Method and apparatus for beam management for inter-cell mobility

ABSTRACT

A method for operating a user equipment (UE) comprises receiving, from a serving cell, configuration information for measuring K resource reference signals (RSs) and reporting a beam report, measuring the K resource RSs, determining the beam report based on a metric, where the beam report includes an indicator indicating at least one of the K resource RSs, and transmitting the determined beam report, wherein 1 ≤ K, wherein the K resource RSs comprises a first subset and a second subset, at least one resource RS in the first subset is transmitted from a serving cell in a set of serving cells and at least one resource RS in the second subset is transmitted from a non-serving cell in a set of non-serving cells.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS AND CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application is a continuation of U.S. Pat. Application No.17/094,580, filed Nov. 10, 2020, which claims priority to U.S.Provisional Pat. Application No. 62/936,870, filed on Nov. 18, 2019,U.S. Provisional Pat. Application No. 63/107,867, filed on Oct. 30,2020, and U.S. Provisional Pat. Application No. 63/110,175, filed onNov. 5, 2020. The content of the above-identified patent documents areincorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communicationsystems and more specifically to beam management for inter-cellmobility.

BACKGROUND

Wireless communication has been one of the most successful innovationsin modern history. The demand of wireless data traffic is rapidlyincreasing due to the growing popularity among consumers and businessesof smart phones and other mobile data devices, such as tablets, “notepad” computers, net books, eBook readers, and machine type of devices.To meet the high growth in mobile data traffic and support newapplications and deployments, improvements in radio interface efficiencyand coverage is of paramount importance.

A mobile device or user equipment (UE) can measure the quality of thedownlink channel and report this quality to a base station so that adetermination can be made regarding whether or not various parametersshould be adjusted during communication with the mobile device. Existingchannel quality reporting processes in wireless communications systemsdo not sufficiently accommodate reporting of channel state informationassociated with large, two-dimensional array transmit antennas or, ingeneral, antenna array geometry which accommodates a large number ofantenna elements.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide methods and apparatuses toenable downlink and uplink multi-beam operation in inter-cell mobilityscenarios.

In one embodiment, a UE is provided. The UE comprises a transceiverconfigured to receive configuration information for measuring K resourcereference signals (RSs) and reporting a beam report. The UE furtherincludes a processor operably connected to the transceiver. Theprocessor, based on the configuration information, is configured tomeasure the K resource RSs, and determine the beam report based on ametric, where the beam report includes an indicator indicating at leastone of the K resource RSs. The transceiver is further configured totransmit the determined beam report, wherein 1 ≤ K, and wherein the Kresource RSs comprises a first subset and a second subset, at least oneresource RS in the first subset is transmitted from a serving cell in aset of serving cells and at least one resource RS in the second subsetis transmitted from a non-serving cell in a set of non-serving cells.

In another embodiment, a BS in a wireless communication system isprovided. The BS includes a processor configured to generateconfiguration information for K resource reference signals (RSs) and abeam report. The BS further includes a transceiver operably coupled tothe processor. The transceiver is configured to transmit theconfiguration information, and receive the beam report. The beam reportincludes an indicator indicating at least one of the K resource RSs,wherein 1 ≤ K, wherein the K resource RSs comprises a first subset and asecond subset, at least one resource RS in the first subset istransmitted from a serving cell in a set of serving cells and at leastone resource RS in the second subset is transmitted from a non-servingcell in a set of non-serving cells, and wherein the BS is a serving cellin the set of serving cells.

In yet another embodiment, a method for operating a UE is provided. Themethod comprises receiving configuration information for measuring Kresource reference signals (RSs) and reporting a beam report, measuringthe K resource RSs, determining the beam report based on a metric, wherethe beam report includes an indicator indicating at least one of the Kresource RSs, and transmitting the determined beam report, wherein 1 ≤K, and wherein the K resource RSs comprises a first subset and a secondsubset, at least one resource RS in the first subset is transmitted froma serving cell in a set of serving cells and at least one resource RS inthe second subset is transmitted from a non-serving cell in a set ofnon-serving cells.

Other technical features may be readily apparent to one skilled in theart from the following figures, descriptions, and claims.

Before undertaking the DETAILED DESCRIPTION below, it may beadvantageous to set forth definitions of certain words and phrases usedthroughout this patent document. The term “couple” and its derivativesrefer to any direct or indirect communication between two or moreelements, whether or not those elements are in physical contact with oneanother. The terms “transmit,” “receive,” and “communicate,” as well asderivatives thereof, encompass both direct and indirect communication.The terms “include” and “comprise,” as well as derivatives thereof, meaninclusion without limitation. The term “or” is inclusive, meaningand/or. The phrase “associated with,” as well as derivatives thereof,means to include, be included within, interconnect with, contain, becontained within, connect to or with, couple to or with, be communicablewith, cooperate with, interleave, juxtapose, be proximate to, be boundto or with, have, have a property of, have a relationship to or with, orthe like. The term “controller” means any device, system or part thereofthat controls at least one operation. Such a controller may beimplemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and software and/orfirmware. The functionality associated with any particular controllermay be centralized or distributed, whether locally or remotely. Thephrase “at least one of,” when used with a list of items, means thatdifferent combinations of one or more of the listed items may be used,and only one item in the list may be needed. For example, “at least oneof: A, B, and C” includes any of the following combinations: A, B, C, Aand B, A and C, B and C, and A and B and C.

Moreover, various functions described below can be implemented orsupported by one or more computer programs, each of which is formed fromcomputer readable program code and embodied in a computer readablemedium. The terms “application” and “program” refer to one or morecomputer programs, software components, sets of instructions,procedures, functions, objects, classes, instances, related data, or aportion thereof adapted for implementation in a suitable computerreadable program code. The phrase “computer readable program code”includes any type of computer code, including source code, object code,and executable code. The phrase “computer readable medium” includes anytype of medium capable of being accessed by a computer, such as readonly memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), a hard disk drive, acompact disc (CD), a digital video disc (DVD), or any other type ofmemory. A “non-transitory” computer readable medium excludes wired,wireless, optical, or other communication links that transporttransitory electrical or other signals. A non-transitory computerreadable medium includes media where data can be permanently stored andmedia where data can be stored and later overwritten, such as arewritable optical disc or an erasable memory device.

Definitions for other certain words and phrases are provided throughoutthis patent document. Those of ordinary skill in the art shouldunderstand that in many if not most instances, such definitions apply toprior as well as future uses of such defined words and phrases.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure and itsadvantages, reference is now made to the following description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like referencenumerals represent like parts:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless network according to embodimentsof the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example gNB according to embodiments of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example UE according to embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 4A illustrates a high-level diagram of an orthogonal frequencydivision multiple access transmit path according to embodiments of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 4B illustrates a high-level diagram of an orthogonal frequencydivision multiple access receive path according to embodiments of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates a transmitter block diagram for a PDSCH in a subframeaccording to embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 illustrates a receiver block diagram for a PDSCH in a subframeaccording to embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 illustrates a transmitter block diagram for a PUSCH in a subframeaccording to embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 illustrates a receiver block diagram for a PUSCH in a subframeaccording to embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 illustrates an example antenna blocks according to embodiments ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 10 illustrates an uplink multi-beam operation according toembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 11 illustrates an uplink multi-beam operation according toembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 12 illustrates a downlink multi-beam operation according toembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 13 illustrates an association of K RSs and their resource-IDs andentity-IDs according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 14 illustrates examples of TCI states according to embodiments ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 15 illustrates a flow chart of a method for operating a userequipment (UE) according to embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 16 illustrates a flow chart of another method as may be performedby a BS, according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 through FIG. 16 , discussed below, and the various embodimentsused to describe the principles of the present disclosure in this patentdocument are by way of illustration only and should not be construed inany way to limit the scope of the disclosure. Those skilled in the artwill understand that the principles of the present disclosure may beimplemented in any suitably arranged system or device.

The following documents and standards descriptions are herebyincorporated by reference into the present disclosure as if fully setforth herein: 3GPP TS 36.211 v16.2.0, “E-UTRA, Physical channels andmodulation” (herein “REF 1”); 3GPP TS 36.212 v16.2.0, “E-UTRA,Multiplexing and Channel coding” (herein “REF 2”); 3GPP TS 36.213v16.2.0, “E-UTRA, Physical Layer Procedures” (herein “REF 3”); 3GPP TS36.321 v16.2.0, “E-UTRA, Medium Access Control (MAC) protocolspecification” (herein “REF 4”); 3GPP TS 36.331 v16.2.0, “E-UTRA, RadioResource Control (RRC) protocol specification” (herein “REF 5”); 3GPP TR22.891 v14.2.0 (herein “REF 6”); 3GPP TS 38.212 v16.2.0, “E-UTRA, NR,Multiplexing and channel coding” (herein “REF 7”); 3GPP TS 38.214v16.2.0, “E-UTRA, NR, Physical layer procedures for data” (herein “REF8”); and 3GPP TS 38.213 v16.2.0, “E-UTRA, NR, Physical Layer Proceduresfor control” (herein “REF 9”).

Aspects, features, and advantages of the disclosure are readily apparentfrom the following detailed description, simply by illustrating a numberof particular embodiments and implementations, including the best modecontemplated for carrying out the disclosure. The disclosure is alsocapable of other and different embodiments, and its several details canbe modified in various obvious respects, all without departing from thespirit and scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, the drawings anddescription are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not asrestrictive. The disclosure is illustrated by way of example, and not byway of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings.

In the following, for brevity, both FDD and TDD are considered as theduplex method for both DL and UL signaling.

Although exemplary descriptions and embodiments to follow assumeorthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) or orthogonalfrequency division multiple access (OFDMA), the present disclosure canbe extended to other OFDM-based transmission waveforms or multipleaccess schemes such as filtered OFDM (F-OFDM).

To meet the demand for wireless data traffic having increased sincedeployment of 4G communication systems, efforts have been made todevelop an improved 5G or pre-5G communication system. Therefore, the 5Gor pre-5G communication system is also called a “beyond 4G network” or a“post LTE system.”

The 5G communication system is considered to be implemented in higherfrequency (mmWave) bands, e.g., 60 GHz bands, so as to accomplish higherdata rates. To decrease propagation loss of the radio waves and increasethe transmission coverage, the beamforming, massive multiple-inputmultiple-output (MIMO), full dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antenna,an analog beam forming, large scale antenna techniques and the like arediscussed in 5G communication systems.

In addition, in 5G communication systems, development for system networkimprovement is under way based on advanced small cells, cloud radioaccess networks (RANs), ultra-dense networks, device-to-device (D2D)communication, wireless backhaul communication, moving network,cooperative communication, coordinated multi-points (CoMP) transmissionand reception, interference mitigation and cancellation and the like.

The discussion of 5G systems and frequency bands associated therewith isfor reference as certain embodiments of the present disclosure may beimplemented in 5G systems. However, the present disclosure is notlimited to 5G systems or the frequency bands associated therewith, andembodiments of the present disclosure may be utilized in connection withany frequency band.

FIGS. 1-4B below describe various embodiments implemented in wirelesscommunications systems and with the use of orthogonal frequency divisionmultiplexing (OFDM) or orthogonal frequency division multiple access(OFDMA) communication techniques. The descriptions of FIGS. 1-3 are notmeant to imply physical or architectural limitations to the manner inwhich different embodiments may be implemented. Different embodiments ofthe present disclosure may be implemented in any suitably-arrangedcommunications system. The present disclosure covers several componentswhich can be used in conjunction or in combination with one another, orcan operate as standalone schemes.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless network according to embodimentsof the present disclosure. The embodiment of the wireless network shownin FIG. 1 is for illustration only. Other embodiments of the wirelessnetwork 100 could be used without departing from the scope of thisdisclosure.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the wireless network includes a gNB 101, a gNB 102,and a gNB 103. The gNB 101 communicates with the gNB 102 and the gNB103. The gNB 101 also communicates with at least one network 130, suchas the Internet, a proprietary Internet Protocol (IP) network, or otherdata network.

The gNB 102 provides wireless broadband access to the network 130 for afirst plurality of user equipments (UEs) within a coverage area 120 ofthe gNB 102. The first plurality of UEs includes a UE 111, which may belocated in a small business; a UE 112, which may be located in anenterprise (E); a UE 113, which may be located in a WiFi hotspot (HS); aUE 114, which may be located in a first residence (R); a UE 115, whichmay be located in a second residence (R); and a UE 116, which may be amobile device (M), such as a cell phone, a wireless laptop, a wirelessPDA, or the like. The gNB 103 provides wireless broadband access to thenetwork 130 for a second plurality of UEs within a coverage area 125 ofthe gNB 103. The second plurality of UEs includes the UE 115 and the UE116. In some embodiments, one or more of the gNBs 101-103 maycommunicate with each other and with the UEs 111-116 using 5G, LTE,LTE-A, WiMAX, WiFi, or other wireless communication techniques.

Depending on the network type, the term “base station” or “BS” can referto any component (or collection of components) configured to providewireless access to a network, such as transmit point (TP),transmit-receive point (TRP), an enhanced base station (eNodeB or eNB),a 5G base station (gNB), a macrocell, a femtocell, a WiFi access point(AP), or other wirelessly enabled devices. Base stations may providewireless access in accordance with one or more wireless communicationprotocols, e.g., 5G 3GPP new radio interface/access (NR), long termevolution (LTE), LTE advanced (LTE-A), high speed packet access (HSPA),Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, etc. For the sake of convenience, the terms “BS”and “TRP” are used interchangeably in this patent document to refer tonetwork infrastructure components that provide wireless access to remoteterminals. Also, depending on the network type, the term “userequipment” or “UE” can refer to any component such as “mobile station,”“subscriber station,” “remote terminal,” “wireless terminal,” “receivepoint,” or “user device.” For the sake of convenience, the terms “userequipment” and “UE” are used in this patent document to refer to remotewireless equipment that wirelessly accesses a BS, whether the UE is amobile device (such as a mobile telephone or smartphone) or is normallyconsidered a stationary device (such as a desktop computer or vendingmachine).

Dotted lines show the approximate extents of the coverage areas 120 and125, which are shown as approximately circular for the purposes ofillustration and explanation only. It should be clearly understood thatthe coverage areas associated with gNBs, such as the coverage areas 120and 125, may have other shapes, including irregular shapes, dependingupon the configuration of the gNBs and variations in the radioenvironment associated with natural and man-made obstructions.

As described in more detail below, one or more of the UEs 111-116include circuitry, programing, or a combination thereof, for receivingconfiguration information for measuring K resource reference signals(RSs) and reporting a beam report, measuring the K resource RSs, anddetermining the beam report based on a metric, where the beam reportincludes an indicator indicating at least one of the K resource RSs, forcommunication in a wireless communication system, and one or more of thegNBs 101-103 includes circuitry, programing, or a combination thereof,for generating configuration information for K resource referencesignals (RSs) and a beam report, transmitting the configurationinformation, and receiving the beam report.

Although FIG. 1 illustrates one example of a wireless network, variouschanges may be made to FIG. 1 . For example, the wireless network couldinclude any number of gNBs and any number of UEs in any suitablearrangement. Also, the gNB 101 could communicate directly with anynumber of UEs and provide those UEs with wireless broadband access tothe network 130. Similarly, each gNB 102-103 could communicate directlywith the network 130 and provide UEs with direct wireless broadbandaccess to the network 130. Further, the gNBs 101, 102, and/or 103 couldprovide access to other or additional external networks, such asexternal telephone networks or other types of data networks.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example gNB 102 according to embodiments of thepresent disclosure. The embodiment of the gNB 102 illustrated in FIG. 2is for illustration only, and the gNBs 101 and 103 of FIG. 1 could havethe same or similar configuration. However, gNBs come in a wide varietyof configurations, and FIG. 2 does not limit the scope of thisdisclosure to any particular implementation of a gNB.

As shown in FIG. 2 , the gNB 102 includes multiple antennas 205 a-205 n,multiple RF transceivers 210 a-210 n, transmit (TX) processing circuitry215, and receive (RX) processing circuitry 220. The gNB 102 alsoincludes a controller/processor 225, a memory 230, and a backhaul ornetwork interface 235.

The RF transceivers 210 a-210 n receive, from the antennas 205 a-205 n,incoming RF signals, such as signals transmitted by UEs in the network100. The RF transceivers 210 a-210 n down-convert the incoming RFsignals to generate IF or baseband signals. The IF or baseband signalsare sent to the RX processing circuitry 220, which generates processedbaseband signals by filtering, decoding, and/or digitizing the basebandor IF signals. The RX processing circuitry 220 transmits the processedbaseband signals to the controller/processor 225 for further processing.

The TX processing circuitry 215 receives analog or digital data (such asvoice data, web data, e-mail, or interactive video game data) from thecontroller/processor 225. The TX processing circuitry 215 encodes,multiplexes, and/or digitizes the outgoing baseband data to generateprocessed baseband or IF signals. The RF transceivers 210 a-210 nreceive the outgoing processed baseband or IF signals from the TXprocessing circuitry 215 and up-converts the baseband or IF signals toRF signals that are transmitted via the antennas 205 a-205 n.

The controller/processor 225 can include one or more processors or otherprocessing devices that control the overall operation of the gNB 102.For example, the controller/processor 225 could control the reception offorward channel signals and the transmission of reverse channel signalsby the RF transceivers 210 a-210 n, the RX processing circuitry 220, andthe TX processing circuitry 215 in accordance with well-knownprinciples. The controller/processor 225 could support additionalfunctions as well, such as more advanced wireless communicationfunctions.

For instance, the controller/processor 225 could support beam forming ordirectional routing operations in which outgoing signals from multipleantennas 205 a-205 n are weighted differently to effectively steer theoutgoing signals in a desired direction. Any of a wide variety of otherfunctions could be supported in the gNB 102 by the controller/processor225.

The controller/processor 225 is also capable of executing programs andother processes resident in the memory 230, such as an OS. Thecontroller/processor 225 can move data into or out of the memory 230 asrequired by an executing process.

The controller/processor 225 is also coupled to the backhaul or networkinterface 235. The backhaul or network interface 235 allows the gNB 102to communicate with other devices or systems over a backhaul connectionor over a network. The interface 235 could support communications overany suitable wired or wireless connection(s). For example, when the gNB102 is implemented as part of a cellular communication system (such asone supporting 5G, LTE, or LTE-A), the interface 235 could allow the gNB102 to communicate with other gNBs over a wired or wireless backhaulconnection. When the gNB 102 is implemented as an access point, theinterface 235 could allow the gNB 102 to communicate over a wired orwireless local area network or over a wired or wireless connection to alarger network (such as the Internet). The interface 235 includes anysuitable structure supporting communications over a wired or wirelessconnection, such as an Ethernet or RF transceiver.

The memory 230 is coupled to the controller/processor 225. Part of thememory 230 could include a RAM, and another part of the memory 230 couldinclude a Flash memory or other ROM.

Although FIG. 2 illustrates one example of gNB 102, various changes maybe made to FIG. 2 . For example, the gNB 102 could include any number ofeach component shown in FIG. 2 . As a particular example, an accesspoint could include a number of interfaces 235, and thecontroller/processor 225 could support routing functions to route databetween different network addresses. As another particular example,while shown as including a single instance of TX processing circuitry215 and a single instance of RX processing circuitry 220, the gNB 102could include multiple instances of each (such as one per RFtransceiver). Also, various components in FIG. 2 could be combined,further subdivided, or omitted and additional components could be addedaccording to particular needs.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example UE 116 according to embodiments of thepresent disclosure. The embodiment of the UE 116 illustrated in FIG. 3is for illustration only, and the UEs 111-115 of FIG. 1 could have thesame or similar configuration. However, UEs come in a wide variety ofconfigurations, and FIG. 3 does not limit the scope of this disclosureto any particular implementation of a UE.

As shown in FIG. 3 , the UE 116 includes an antenna 305, a radiofrequency (RF) transceiver 310, TX processing circuitry 315, amicrophone 320, and receive (RX) processing circuitry 325. The UE 116also includes a speaker 330, a processor 340, an input/output (I/O)interface (IF) 345, a touchscreen 350, a display 355, and a memory 360.The memory 360 includes an operating system (OS) 361 and one or moreapplications 362.

The RF transceiver 310 receives, from the antenna 305, an incoming RFsignal transmitted by a gNB of the network 100. The RF transceiver 310down-converts the incoming RF signal to generate an intermediatefrequency (IF) or baseband signal. The IF or baseband signal is sent tothe RX processing circuitry 325, which generates a processed basebandsignal by filtering, decoding, and/or digitizing the baseband or IFsignal. The RX processing circuitry 325 transmits the processed basebandsignal to the speaker 330 (such as for voice data) or to the processor340 for further processing (such as for web browsing data).

The TX processing circuitry 315 receives analog or digital voice datafrom the microphone 320 or other outgoing baseband data (such as webdata, e-mail, or interactive video game data) from the processor 340.The TX processing circuitry 315 encodes, multiplexes, and/or digitizesthe outgoing baseband data to generate a processed baseband or IFsignal. The RF transceiver 310 receives the outgoing processed basebandor IF signal from the TX processing circuitry 315 and up-converts thebaseband or IF signal to an RF signal that is transmitted via theantenna 305.

The processor 340 can include one or more processors or other processingdevices and execute the OS 361 stored in the memory 360 in order tocontrol the overall operation of the UE 116. For example, the processor340 could control the reception of forward channel signals and thetransmission of reverse channel signals by the RF transceiver 310, theRX processing circuitry 325, and the TX processing circuitry 315 inaccordance with well-known principles. In some embodiments, theprocessor 340 includes at least one microprocessor or microcontroller.

The processor 340 is also capable of executing other processes andprograms resident in the memory 360, such as processes for receivingconfiguration information for measuring K resource reference signals(RSs) and reporting a beam report, measuring the K resource RSs,determining the beam report based on a metric, where the beam reportincludes an indicator indicating at least one of the K resource RSs, andtransmitting the determined beam report, wherein 1 ≤ K, and wherein theK resource RSs comprises a first subset and a second subset, eachresource RS in the first subset is transmitted from a serving cell in aset of serving cells and each resource RS in the second subset istransmitted from a non-serving cell in a set of non-serving cells. Theprocessor 340 can move data into or out of the memory 360 as required byan executing process. In some embodiments, the processor 340 isconfigured to execute the applications 362 based on the OS 361 or inresponse to signals received from gNBs or an operator. The processor 340is also coupled to the I/O interface 345, which provides the UE 116 withthe ability to connect to other devices, such as laptop computers andhandheld computers. The I/O interface 345 is the communication pathbetween these accessories and the processor 340.

The processor 340 is also coupled to the touchscreen 350 and the display355. The operator of the UE 116 can use the touchscreen 350 to enterdata into the UE 116. The display 355 may be a liquid crystal display,light emitting diode display, or other display capable of rendering textand/or at least limited graphics, such as from web sites.

The memory 360 is coupled to the processor 340. Part of the memory 360could include a random access memory (RAM), and another part of thememory 360 could include a Flash memory or other read-only memory (ROM).

Although FIG. 3 illustrates one example of UE 116, various changes maybe made to FIG. 3 . For example, various components in FIG. 3 could becombined, further subdivided, or omitted and additional components couldbe added according to particular needs. As a particular example, theprocessor 340 could be divided into multiple processors, such as one ormore central processing units (CPUs) and one or more graphics processingunits (GPUs). Also, while FIG. 3 illustrates the UE 116 configured as amobile telephone or smartphone, UEs could be configured to operate asother types of mobile or stationary devices.

FIG. 4A is a high-level diagram of transmit path circuitry. For example,the transmit path circuitry may be used for an orthogonal frequencydivision multiple access (OFDMA) communication. FIG. 4B is a high-leveldiagram of receive path circuitry. For example, the receive pathcircuitry may be used for an orthogonal frequency division multipleaccess (OFDMA) communication. In FIGS. 4A and 4B, for downlinkcommunication, the transmit path circuitry may be implemented in a basestation (gNB) 102 or a relay station, and the receive path circuitry maybe implemented in a user equipment (e.g., user equipment 116 of FIG. 1). In other examples, for uplink communication, the receive pathcircuitry 450 may be implemented in a base station (e.g., gNB 102 ofFIG. 1 ) or a relay station, and the transmit path circuitry may beimplemented in a user equipment (e.g., user equipment 116 of FIG. 1 ).

Transmit path circuitry comprises channel coding and modulation block405, serial-to-parallel (S-to-P) block 410, Size N Inverse Fast FourierTransform (IFFT) block 415, parallel-to-serial (P-to-S) block 420, addcyclic prefix block 425, and up-converter (UC) 430. Receive pathcircuitry 450 comprises down-converter (DC) 455, remove cyclic prefixblock 460, serial-to-parallel (S-to-P) block 465, Size N Fast FourierTransform (FFT) block 470, parallel-to-serial (P-to-S) block 475, andchannel decoding and demodulation block 480.

At least some of the components in FIG. 4A 400 and 4B 450 may beimplemented in software, while other components may be implemented byconfigurable hardware or a mixture of software and configurablehardware. In particular, it is noted that the FFT blocks and the IFFTblocks described in this disclosure document may be implemented asconfigurable software algorithms, where the value of Size N may bemodified according to the implementation.

Furthermore, although this disclosure is directed to an embodiment thatimplements the Fast Fourier Transform and the Inverse Fast FourierTransform, this is by way of illustration only and may not be construedto limit the scope of the disclosure. It may be appreciated that in analternate embodiment of the present disclosure, the Fast FourierTransform functions and the Inverse Fast Fourier Transform functions mayeasily be replaced by discrete Fourier transform (DFT) functions andinverse discrete Fourier transform (IDFT) functions, respectively. Itmay be appreciated that for DFT and IDFT functions, the value of the Nvariable may be any integer number (i.e., 1, 4, 3, 4, etc.), while forFFT and IFFT functions, the value of the N variable may be any integernumber that is a power of two (i.e., 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, etc.).

In transmit path circuitry 400, channel coding and modulation block 405receives a set of information bits, applies coding (e.g., LDPC coding)and modulates (e.g., quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) or quadratureamplitude modulation (QAM)) the input bits to produce a sequence offrequency-domain modulation symbols. Serial-to-parallel block 410converts (i.e., demultiplexes) the serial modulated symbols to paralleldata to produce N parallel symbol streams where N is the IFFT/FFT sizeused in BS 102 and UE 116. Size N IFFT block 415 then performs an IFFToperation on the N parallel symbol streams to produce time-domain outputsignals. Parallel-to-serial block 420 converts (i.e., multiplexes) theparallel time-domain output symbols from Size N IFFT block 415 toproduce a serial time-domain signal. Add cyclic prefix block 425 theninserts a cyclic prefix to the time-domain signal. Finally, up-converter430 modulates (i.e., up-converts) the output of add cyclic prefix block425 to RF frequency for transmission via a wireless channel. The signalmay also be filtered at baseband before conversion to RF frequency.

The transmitted RF signal arrives at the UE 116 after passing throughthe wireless channel, and reverse operations to those at gNB 102 areperformed. Down-converter 455 down-converts the received signal tobaseband frequency, and remove cyclic prefix block 460 removes thecyclic prefix to produce the serial time-domain baseband signal.Serial-to-parallel block 465 converts the time-domain baseband signal toparallel time-domain signals. Size N FFT block 470 then performs an FFTalgorithm to produce N parallel frequency-domain signals.Parallel-to-serial block 475 converts the parallel frequency-domainsignals to a sequence of modulated data symbols. Channel decoding anddemodulation block 480 demodulates and then decodes the modulatedsymbols to recover the original input data stream.

Each of gNBs 101-103 may implement a transmit path that is analogous totransmitting in the downlink to user equipment 111-116 and may implementa receive path that is analogous to receiving in the uplink from userequipment 111-116. Similarly, each one of user equipment 111-116 mayimplement a transmit path corresponding to the architecture fortransmitting in the uplink to gNBs 101-103 and may implement a receivepath corresponding to the architecture for receiving in the downlinkfrom gNBs 101-103.

The 5G communication system use cases have been identified anddescribed. Those use cases can be roughly categorized into threedifferent groups. In one example, enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) isdetermined to do with high bits/sec requirement, with less stringentlatency and reliability requirements. In another example, ultra-reliableand low latency (URLL) is determined with less stringent bits/secrequirement. In yet another example, massive machine type communication(mMTC) is determined that a number of devices can be as many as 100,000to 1 million per km2, but the reliability/throughput/latency requirementcould be less stringent. This scenario may also involve power efficiencyrequirement as well, in that the battery consumption may be minimized aspossible.

A communication system includes a downlink (DL) that conveys signalsfrom transmission points such as base stations (BSs) or NodeBs to userequipments (UEs) and an Uplink (UL) that conveys signals from UEs toreception points such as NodeBs. A UE, also commonly referred to as aterminal or a mobile station, may be fixed or mobile and may be acellular phone, a personal computer device, or an automated device. AneNodeB, which is generally a fixed station, may also be referred to asan access point or other equivalent terminology. For LTE systems, aNodeB is often referred as an eNodeB.

In a communication system, such as LTE system, DL signals can includedata signals conveying information content, control signals conveying DLcontrol information (DCI), and reference signals (RS) that are alsoknown as pilot signals. An eNodeB transmits data information through aphysical DL shared channel (PDSCH). An eNodeB transmits DCI through aphysical DL control channel (PDCCH) or an Enhanced PDCCH (EPDCCH).

An eNodeB transmits acknowledgement information in response to datatransport block (TB) transmission from a UE in a physical hybrid ARQindicator channel (PHICH). An eNodeB transmits one or more of multipletypes of RS including a UE-common RS (CRS), a channel state informationRS (CSI-RS), or a demodulation RS (DMRS). A CRS is transmitted over a DLsystem bandwidth (BW) and can be used by UEs to obtain a channelestimate to demodulate data or control information or to performmeasurements. To reduce CRS overhead, an eNodeB may transmit a CSI-RSwith a smaller density in the time and/or frequency domain than a CRS.DMRS can be transmitted only in the BW of a respective PDSCH or EPDCCHand a UE can use the DMRS to demodulate data or control information in aPDSCH or an EPDCCH, respectively. A transmission time interval for DLchannels is referred to as a subframe and can have, for example,duration of 1 millisecond.

DL signals also include transmission of a logical channel that carriessystem control information. A BCCH is mapped to either a transportchannel referred to as a broadcast channel (BCH) when the DL signalsconvey a master information block (MIB) or to a DL shared channel(DL-SCH) when the DL signals convey a System Information Block (SIB).Most system information is included in different SIBs that aretransmitted using DL-SCH. A presence of system information on a DL-SCHin a subframe can be indicated by a transmission of a correspondingPDCCH conveying a codeword with a cyclic redundancy check (CRC)scrambled with system information RNTI (SI-RNTI). Alternatively,scheduling information for a SIB transmission can be provided in anearlier SIB and scheduling information for the first SIB (SIB-1) can beprovided by the MIB.

DL resource allocation is performed in a unit of subframe and a group ofphysical resource blocks (PRBs). A transmission BW includes frequencyresource units referred to as resource blocks (RBs). Each RB includes

N_(sc)^(RB)

sub-carriers, or resource elements (REs), such as 12 REs. A unit of oneRB over one subframe is referred to as a PRB. A UE can be allocatedM_(PDSCH) RBs for a total of M

M_(sc)^(PDSCH) = M_(PDSCH) ⋅ N_(sc)^(RB)

REs for the PDSCH transmission BW.

UL signals can include data signals conveying data information, controlsignals conveying UL control information (UCI), and UL RS. UL RSincludes DMRS and Sounding RS (SRS). A UE transmits DMRS only in a BW ofa respective PUSCH or PUCCH. An eNodeB can use a DMRS to demodulate datasignals or UCI signals. A UE transmits SRS to provide an eNodeB with anUL CSI. A UE transmits data information or UCI through a respectivephysical UL shared channel (PUSCH) or a Physical UL control channel(PUCCH). If a UE needs to transmit data information and UCI in a same ULsubframe, the UE may multiplex both in a PUSCH. UCI includes HybridAutomatic Repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information,indicating correct (ACK) or incorrect (NACK) detection for a data TB ina PDSCH or absence of a PDCCH detection (DTX), scheduling request (SR)indicating whether a UE has data in the UE’s buffer, rank indicator(RI), and channel state information (CSI) enabling an eNodeB to performlink adaptation for PDSCH transmissions to a UE. HARQ-ACK information isalso transmitted by a UE in response to a detection of a PDCCH/EPDCCHindicating a release of semi-persistently scheduled PDSCH.

An UL subframe includes two slots. Each slot includes

N_(symb)^(UL)

symbols for transmitting data information, UCI, DMRS, or SRS. Afrequency resource unit of an UL systemBW is a RB. A UE is allocatedN_(RB) RBs for a total of

N_(RB) ⋅ N_(sc)^(RB)REs

for a transmission BW. For a PUCCH, N_(RB) = 1. A last subframe symbolcan be used to multiplex SRS transmissions from one or more UEs. Anumber of subframe symbols that are available for data/UCI/DMRStransmission is

N_(symb) = 2 ⋅ (N_(symb)^(UL) − 1) − N_(SRS), where N_(SRS) = 1

if a last subframe symbol is used to transmit SRS and N_(SRS) = 0otherwise.

FIG. 5 illustrates a transmitter block diagram 500 for a PDSCH in asubframe according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Theembodiment of the transmitter block diagram 500 illustrated in FIG. 5 isfor illustration only. One or more of the components illustrated in FIG.5 can be implemented in specialized circuitry configured to perform thenoted functions or one or more of the components can be implemented byone or more processors executing instructions to perform the notedfunctions. FIG. 5 does not limit the scope of this disclosure to anyparticular implementation of the transmitter block diagram 500.

As shown in FIG. 5 , information bits 510 are encoded by encoder 520,such as a turbo encoder, and modulated by modulator 530, for exampleusing quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) modulation. A serial toparallel (S/P) converter 540 generates M modulation symbols that aresubsequently provided to a mapper 550 to be mapped to REs selected by atransmission BW selection unit 555 for an assigned PDSCH transmissionBW, unit 560 applies an Inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT), theoutput is then serialized by a parallel to serial (P/S) converter 570 tocreate a time domain signal, filtering is applied by filter 580, and asignal transmitted 590. Additional functionalities, such as datascrambling, cyclic prefix insertion, time windowing, interleaving, andothers are well known in the art and are not shown for brevity.

FIG. 6 illustrates a receiver block diagram 600 for a PDSCH in asubframe according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Theembodiment of the diagram 600 illustrated in FIG. 6 is for illustrationonly. One or more of the components illustrated in FIG. 6 can beimplemented in specialized circuitry configured to perform the notedfunctions or one or more of the components can be implemented by one ormore processors executing instructions to perform the noted functions.FIG. 6 does not limit the scope of this disclosure to any particularimplementation of the diagram 600.

As shown in FIG. 6 , a received signal 610 is filtered by filter 620,REs 630 for an assigned reception BW are selected by BW selector 635,unit 640 applies a fast Fourier transform (FFT), and an output isserialized by a parallel-to-serial converter 650. Subsequently, ademodulator 660 coherently demodulates data symbols by applying achannel estimate obtained from a DMRS or a CRS (not shown), and adecoder 670, such as a turbo decoder, decodes the demodulated data toprovide an estimate of the information data bits 680. Additionalfunctionalities such as time-windowing, cyclic prefix removal,de-scrambling, channel estimation, and de-interleaving are not shown forbrevity.

FIG. 7 illustrates a transmitter block diagram 700 for a PUSCH in asubframe according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Theembodiment of the block diagram 700 illustrated in FIG. 7 is forillustration only. One or more of the components illustrated in FIG. 5can be implemented in specialized circuitry configured to perform thenoted functions or one or more of the components can be implemented byone or more processors executing instructions to perform the notedfunctions. FIG. 7 does not limit the scope of this disclosure to anyparticular implementation of the block diagram 700.

As shown in FIG. 7 , information data bits 710 are encoded by encoder720, such as a turbo encoder, and modulated by modulator 730. A discreteFourier transform (DFT) unit 740 applies a DFT on the modulated databits, REs 750 corresponding to an assigned PUSCH transmission BW areselected by transmission BW selection unit 755, unit 760 applies an IFFTand, after a cyclic prefix insertion (not shown), filtering is appliedby filter 770 and a signal transmitted 780.

FIG. 8 illustrates a receiver block diagram 800 for a PUSCH in asubframe according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Theembodiment of the block diagram 800 illustrated in FIG. 8 is forillustration only. One or more of the components illustrated in FIG. 8can be implemented in specialized circuitry configured to perform thenoted functions or one or more of the components can be implemented byone or more processors executing instructions to perform the notedfunctions. FIG. 8 does not limit the scope of this disclosure to anyparticular implementation of the block diagram 800.

As shown in FIG. 8 , a received signal 810 is filtered by filter 820.Subsequently, after a cyclic prefix is removed (not shown), unit 830applies a FFT, REs 840 corresponding to an assigned PUSCH reception BWare selected by a reception BW selector 845, unit 850 applies an inverseDFT (IDFT), a demodulator 860 coherently demodulates data symbols byapplying a channel estimate obtained from a DMRS (not shown), a decoder870, such as a turbo decoder, decodes the demodulated data to provide anestimate of the information data bits 880.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example antenna blocks 900 according toembodiments of the present disclosure. The embodiment of the antennablocks 900 illustrated in FIG. 9 is for illustration only. FIG. 9 doesnot limit the scope of this disclosure to any particular implementationof the antenna blocks 900.

The 3GPP LTE and NR (new radio access or interface) specificationssupport up to 32 CSI-RS antenna ports which enable an eNB to be equippedwith a large number of antenna elements (such as 64 or 128). In thiscase, a plurality of antenna elements is mapped onto one CSI-RS port.For next generation cellular systems such as 5G, the maximum number ofCSI-RS ports can either remain the same or increase. For mmWave bands,although the number of antenna elements can be larger for a given formfactor, the number of CSI-RS ports -which can correspond to the numberof digitally precoded ports - tends to be limited due to hardwareconstraints (such as the feasibility to install a large number ofADCs/DACs at mmWave frequencies) as illustrated in FIG. 9 . In thiscase, one CSI-RS port is mapped onto a large number of antenna elementswhich can be controlled by a bank of analog phase shifters 901. OneCSI-RS port can then correspond to one sub-array which produces a narrowanalog beam through analog beamforming 905. This analog beam can beconfigured to sweep across a wider range of angles 920 by varying thephase shifter bank across symbols or subframes. The number of sub-arrays(equal to the number of RF chains) is the same as the number of CSI-RSports N_(CSI-PORT). A digital beamforming unit 910 performs a linearcombination across N_(CSI-PORT) analog beams to further increaseprecoding gain. While analog beams are wideband (hence notfrequency-selective), digital precoding can be varied across frequencysub-bands or resource blocks. Receiver operation can be conceivedanalogously.

Because the above system utilizes multiple analog beams for transmissionand reception (wherein one or a small number of analog beams areselected out of a large number, for instance, after a trainingduration - to be performed from time to time), the term “multi-beamoperation” is used to refer to the overall system aspect. This includes,for the purpose of illustration, indicating the assigned DL or ULtransmit (TX) beam (also termed “beam indication”), measuring at leastone reference signal for calculating and performing beam reporting (alsotermed “beam measurement” and “beam reporting”, respectively), andreceiving a DL or UL transmission via a selection of a correspondingreceive (RX) beam.

The above system is also applicable to higher frequency bands suchas >52.6 GHz (also termed the FR4). In this case, the system can employonly analog beams. Due to the O2 absorption loss around 60 GHz frequency(~ 10 dB additional loss @ 100 m distance), larger number of and sharperanalog beams (hence larger number of radiators in the array) will beneeded to compensate for the additional path loss.

In 3GPP LTE and NR, network access and radio resource management (RRM)are enabled by physical layer synchronization signals and higher (MAC)layer procedures. In particular, a UE attempts to detect the presence ofsynchronization signals along with at least one cell ID for initialaccess. Once the UE is in the network and associated with a servingcell, the UE monitors several neighboring (or non-serving) cells byattempting to detect their synchronization signals and/or measuring theassociated cell-specific RSs (for instance, by measuring their RSRPs).For next generation cellular systems, efficient and unified radioresource acquisition or tracking mechanism which works for various usecases (such as eMBB, URLLC, mMTC, each corresponding to a differentcoverage requirement) and frequency bands (with different propagationlosses) is desirable. Most likely designed with a different network andradio resource paradigm, seamless and low-latency RRM is also desirable.Such goals pose at least the following problems in designing an access,radio resource, and mobility management framework.

First, since NR is likely to support even more diversified networktopology, the notion of cell can be redefined or replaced with anotherradio resource entity. As an example, for synchronous networks, one cellcan be associated with a plurality of TRPs (transmit-receive points)similar to a COMP (coordinated multipoint transmission) scenario in LTE.In this case, seamless mobility is a desirable feature. Second, whenlarge antenna arrays and beamforming are utilized, defining radioresource in terms of beams (although possibly termed differently) can bea natural approach. Given that numerous beamforming architectures can beutilized, an access, radio resource, and mobility management frameworkwhich accommodates various beamforming architectures (or, instead,agnostic to beamforming architecture) is desirable. For instance, theframework should be applicable for or agnostic to whether one beam isformed for one CSI-RS port (for instance, where a plurality of analogports are connected to one digital port, and a plurality of widelyseparated digital ports are utilized) or one beam is formed by aplurality of CSI-RS ports. In addition, the framework should beapplicable whether beam sweeping (as illustrated in FIG. 9 ) is used ornot. Third, different frequency bands and use cases impose differentcoverage limitations. For example, mmWave bands impose large propagationlosses. Therefore, some form of coverage enhancement scheme is needed.Several candidates include beam sweeping (cf. FIG. 9 ), repetition,diversity, and/or multi-TRP transmission. For mMTC where transmissionbandwidth is small, time-domain repetition is needed to ensuresufficient coverage.

A prerequisite to seamless access is significant reduction ofhigher-layer procedures for UEs which are already connected to thenetwork. For instance, the existence of cell boundaries (or in generalthe notion of cells) necessitates RRC (L3) reconfiguration as a UE movesfrom one cell to another (i.e., inter-cell mobility). For heterogeneousnetworks with closed subscriber groups, additional overhead associatedwith higher layer procedures may further tax the system. This can beachieved by relaxing the cell boundaries thereby creating a large“super-cell” wherein a large number of UEs can roam. In this case, highcapacity MIMO transmission (especially MU-MIMO) becomes more prevalent.While this presents an opportunity to increase system capacity (measuredin terms of the number of sustainable UEs), it requires a streamlinedMIMO design. This poses a challenge if applied in the current system.

Therefore, there is a need for an access, radio resource, and mobilitymanagement framework which facilitates seamless access by reducing theamount of higher layer procedures. In addition, there is also a need fora streamlined MIMO design that facilitates high capacity MIMOtransmission.

In NR, multi-beam operation is designed primarily for singletransmit-receive point (TRP) and single antenna panel. Therefore, thespecification supports beam indication for one TX beam wherein a TX beamis associated with a reference RS. For DL beam indication andmeasurement, the reference RS can be NZP (non-zero power) CSI-RS and/orSSB (synchronization signal block, which includes primarysynchronization signal, secondary synchronization signal, and PBCH).Here, DL beam indication is done via the transmission configurationindicator (TCI) field in DL-related DCI which includes an index to one(and only one) assigned reference RS. A set of hypotheses or theso-called TCI states is configured via higher-layer (RRC) signaling and,when applicable, a subset of those TCI states is selected/activated viaMAC CE for the TCI field code points. For UL beam indication andmeasurement, the reference RS can be NZP CSI-RS, SSB, and/or SRS. Here,UL beam indication is done via the SRS resource indicator (SRI) field inUL-related DCI which is linked to one (and only one) reference RS. Thislinkage is configured via higher-layer signaling using theSpatialRelationInfo RRC parameter. Essentially, only one TX beam isindicated to the UE.

In 3GPP NR specification, beam management was designed to share the sameframework as CSI acquisition. This, however, compromises the performanceof beam management especially for FR2. This is because beam managementoperates mainly with analog beams (characteristic of FR2) whichparadigmatically differ from CSI acquisition (designed with FR1 inmind). Consequently, NR beam management becomes cumbersome and isunlikely able to keep up with more aggressive use cases which requirelarge number of beams and fast beam switching (e.g., higher frequencybands, high mobility, and/or larger number of narrower analog beams). Inaddition, NR was designed to accommodate a number of unknown orrudimentary capabilities (e.g., UEs not capable of beam correspondence).To be flexible, it results in a number of options. This becomesburdensome to L1 control signaling and therefore a number ofreconfigurations are performed via RRC signaling (higher-layerconfiguration). While this avoids L1 control overhead, it either resultsin high latency (if reconfiguration is performed sparsely) or imposeshigh usage of PDSCH (since RRC signaling consumes PDSCH resources).

In NR, the handover procedure to handle inter-cell mobility is similarto LTE, and relies heavily on RRC (and even higher layer)reconfigurations to update cell-specific parameters. Thesereconfigurations usually are slow, and incur large latency (up toseveral milliseconds). For high mobility UEs, this issue gets worse dueto the need for more frequency handovers, hence more frequency RRCreconfigurations.

For high mobility UEs in FR2, the two latency issues mentioned above,one with the hierarchical NW structure (with visible cell boundaries)and the other with the beam management, compound together and make thelatency issue much worse, and lead to frequent radio link failures(RLFs). Therefore, there is a need for solutions/mechanisms which canreduce RLFs for high mobility UEs in FR2. One such solution/mechanism,namely, beam management for inter-cell mobility, is proposed in thisdisclosure.

In the present disclosure, the term “activation” describes an operationwherein a UE receives and decodes a signal from the network (or gNB)that signifies a starting point in time. The starting point can be apresent or a future slot/subframe or symbol - the exact location eitherimplicitly or explicitly indicated, or otherwise fixed or higher-layerconfigured. Upon successfully decoding the signal, the UE respondsaccordingly. The term “deactivation” describes an operation wherein a UEreceives and decodes a signal from the network (or gNB) that signifies astopping point in time. The stopping point can be a present or a futureslot/subframe or symbol - the exact location either implicitly orexplicitly indicated, or otherwise fixed or higher-layer configured.Upon successfully decoding the signal, the UE responds accordingly.

Terminology such as TCI, TCI states, SpatialRelationInfo, target RS,reference RS, and other terms is used for illustrative purposes andtherefore not normative. Other terms that refer to the same functionscan also be used.

A “reference RS” corresponds to a set of characteristics of UL TX beamor DL RX beam, such as direction, precoding/beamforming, number ofports, etc. For instance, for UL, as the UE receives a reference RSindex/ID in an UL grant, the UE applies the known characteristics of thereference RS to the granted UL transmission. The reference RS can bereceived and measured by the UE (in this case, the reference RS is adownlink signal such as NZP CSI-RS and/or SSB) with the result of themeasurement used for calculating a beam report. As the NW/gNB receivesthe beam report, the NW can be better equipped with information toassign a particular UL TX beam or DL RX beam to the UE. Optionally, thereference RS can be transmitted by the UE (in this case, the referenceRS is a downlink signal such as SRS or DMRS). As the NW/gNB receives thereference RS, the NW/gNB can measure and calculate the neededinformation to assign a particular UL TX beam or DL RX beam to the UE.

The reference RS can be dynamically triggered by the NW/gNB (e.g., viaDCI in case of aperiodic RS), preconfigured with a certain time-domainbehavior (such as periodicity and offset, in case of periodic RS), or acombination of such pre-configuration and activation/deactivation (incase of semi-persistent RS).

The following embodiment is an example of DL multi-beam operation thatutilizes DL beam indication after the network (NW) receives sometransmission from the UE. In the first example embodiment, aperiodicCSI-RS is transmitted by the NW and measured by the UE. Althoughaperiodic RS is used in these two examples, periodic or semi-persistentRS can also be used.

For mmWave (or FR2) or higher frequency bands (such as >52.6 GHz or FR4)where multi-beam operation is especially relevant,transmission-reception process includes the receiver to select a receive(RX) beam for a given TX beam. For UL multi-beam operation, the gNBselects an UL RX beam for every UL TX beam (which corresponds to areference RS). Therefore, when UL RS (such as SRS and/or DMRS) is usedas reference RS, the NW/gNB triggers or configures the UE to transmitthe UL RS (which is associated with a selection of UL TX beam). The gNB,upon receiving and measuring the UL RS, selects an UL RX beam. As aresult, a TX-RX beam pair is derived. The NW/gNB can perform thisoperation for all the configured reference RSs (either per reference RSor “beam sweeping”) and determine all the TX-RX beam pairs associatedwith all the reference RSs configured to the UE. On the other hand, whenDL RS (such as CSI-RS and/or SSB) is used as reference RS (pertinentwhen DL-UL beam correspondence or reciprocity holds), the NW/gNBtransmit the RS to the UE (for UL and by reciprocity, this correspondsto an UL RX beam). In response, the UE measures the reference RS (and inthe process selects an UL TX beam) and reports the beam metricassociated with the quality of the reference RS. In this case, the UEdetermines the TX-RX beam pair for every configured (DL) reference RS.Therefore, although this knowledge is unavailable to the NW/gNB, the UE-upon receiving a reference RS (hence UL RX beam) indication from theNW/gNB - can select the UL TX beam from the knowledge on all the TX-RXbeam pairs.

In the present disclosure, the term “Resource Indicator”, alsoabbreviated as REI, is used to refer to an indicator of RS resource usedfor signal/channel and./or interference measurement. This term is usedfor illustrative purposes and hence can be substituted with any otherterm that refers to the same function. Examples of REI include theaforementioned CSI-RS resource indicator (CRI) and SSB resourceindicator (SSB-RI). Any other RS can also be used for signal/channeland/or interference measurement such as DMRS.

In one example illustrated in FIG. 10 , an UL multi-beam operation 1000is shown. The embodiment of the UL multi-beam operation 1000 illustratedin FIG. 10 is for illustration only. FIG. 10 does not limit the scope ofthis disclosure to any particular implementation of the UL multi-beamoperation 1000.

The UL multi-beam operation 1000 starts with the gNB/NW signaling to aUE an aperiodic CSI-RS (AP-CSI-RS) trigger or indication (step 1001).This trigger or indication can be included in a DCI (either UL-relatedor DL-related, either separately or jointly signaled with an aperiodicCSI request/trigger) and indicate transmission of AP-CSI-RS in a same(zero time offset) or later slot/sub-frame (>0 time offset). Uponreceiving the AP-CSI-RS transmitted by the gNB/NW (step 1002), the UEmeasures the AP-CSI-RS and, in turn, calculates and reports a “beammetric” (indicating quality of a particular TX beam hypothesis) (step1003). Examples of such beam reporting are CSI-RS resource indicator(CRI) or SSB resource indicator (SSB-RI) coupled with its associatedL1-RSRP/L1-RSRQ/L1-SINR/CQI.

Upon receiving the beam report from the UE, the gNB/NW can use the beamreport to select an UL TX beam for the UE and indicate the UL TX beamselection (step 1004) using the SRI field in the UL-related DCI (thatcarries the UL grant, such as DCI format 0_1 in NR). The SRI correspondsto a “target” SRS resource that is linked to a reference RS (in thiscase, an AP-CSI-RS) via SpatialRelationlnfo configuration. Uponsuccessfully decoding the UL-related DCI with the SRI, the UE performsUL transmission (such as data transmission on PUSCH) with the UL TX beamassociated with the SRI (step 1005).

In another example illustrated in FIG. 11 , an UL multi-beam operation1100 is shown. The embodiment of the UL multi-beam operation 1100illustrated in FIG. 11 is for illustration only. FIG. 11 does not limitthe scope of this disclosure to any particular implementation of the ULmulti-beam operation 1100.

The UL multi-beam operation 1100 starts with the gNB/NW signaling to aUE an aperiodic SRS (AP-SRS) trigger or request (step 1101). Thistrigger can be included in a DCI (either UL-related or DL-related). Uponreceiving and decoding the AP-SRS trigger, the UE transmits AP-SRS tothe gNB/NW (step 1102) so that the NW (or gNB) can measure the ULpropagation channel and select an UL TX beam for the UE. The gNB/NW canthen indicate the UL TX beam selection (step 1103) using the SRI fieldin the UL-related DCI (that carries the UL grant, such as DCI format 0_1in NR). The SRI corresponds to a “target” SRS resource that is linked toa reference RS (in this case, an AP-SRS) via SpatialRelationlnfoconfiguration. Upon successfully decoding the UL-related DCI with theSRI, the UE performs UL transmission (such as data transmission onPUSCH) with the UL TX beam associated with the SRI (step 1104).

In another example illustrated in FIG. 12 , a DL multi-beam operation1200 is shown. The embodiment of the DL multi-beam operation 1200illustrated in FIG. 12 is for illustration only. FIG. 12 does not limitthe scope of this disclosure to any particular implementation of the DLmulti-beam operation 1200.

In the example illustrated in FIG. 12 , where a UE is configured formeasuring/receiving aperiodic CSI-RS (AP-CSI-RS) and reporting aperiodicCSI (AP CSI), a DL multi-beam operation 1200 starts with the gNB/NWsignaling to a UE an aperiodic CSI-RS (AP-CSI-RS) trigger or indication(step 1201). This trigger or indication can be included in a DCI (eitherUL-related or DL-related, either separately or jointly signaled with anaperiodic CSI request/trigger) and indicate transmission of AP-CSI-RS ina same (zero time offset) or later slot/sub-frame (>0 time offset). Uponreceiving the AP-CSI-RS transmitted by the gNB/NW (step 1202), the UEmeasures the AP-CSI-RS and, in turn, calculates and reports a “beammetric” (included in the CSI, indicating quality of a particular TX beamhypothesis) (step 1203). Examples of such beam reporting (supported inNR) are CSI-RS resource indicator (CRI) or SSB resource indicator(SSB-RI) coupled with its associated L1-RSRP and/or L1-SINR. Uponreceiving the beam report from the UE, the NW/gNB can use the beamreport to select a DL TX beam for the UE and indicate the DL TX beamselection (step 1204) using the TCI field in the DL-related DCI (thatcarries the DL assignment, such as DCI format 1_1 in NR). The TCI statecorresponds to a reference RS (in this case, an AP-CSI-RS)defined/configured via the TCI state definition (higher-layer/RRCconfigured, from which a subset is activated via MAC CE for theDCI-based selection). Upon successfully decoding the DL-related DCI withthe TCI field, the UE performs DL reception (such as data transmissionon PDSCH) with the DL TX beam associated with the TCI field (step 1205).In this example embodiment, only one DL TX beam is indicated to the UE.

To facilitate fast beam management, one requirement is to streamline thefoundational components (building blocks) for beam management. Onefunctionality of beam management is beam selection which comprisesfunctions such as beam measurement (including training), reporting (forDL beam management, reporting via UL control channel(s)), and indication(for DL and UL beam management, indication via DL control channel(s)).Once the building blocks are streamlined [step 1], additional advancedfeatures to facilitate faster beam management can be added [step 2].

In U.S. Pat. Application Serial No. 16/949,246 filed on Oct. 21, 2020,the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein, a “slimmode” with streamlined designs of such foundational components [step 1]is proposed for fast beam management. The slim-mode design, due to itscompact nature, can facilitate faster update/reconfiguration vialower-layer control signaling. In other words, L1 control signaling willbe the primary signaling mechanism and higher-layer (such as MAC CE orRRC) is used only when necessary. Here, L1 control signaling includesthe use of UE-group DCI as well as dedicated (UE-specific) DCI.

In the present disclosure, an advanced feature for faster beammanagement (multi-beam operation) from intra-cell to inter-cell mobilityis proposed [step 2]. With such mechanism, seamless access/mobility forRRC_CONNECTED UEs -as if cell boundaries were not observed unless a UEis in initial access or initial-access-like condition - can be achieved.

In NR beam management (BM), the beam measurement, reporting, andindication does not include cell-specific information such as cell-ID.Therefore, in order to switch to a beam associated with another cell(e.g., in case of handover), the UE has to first go through thetraditional handover procedures to acquire/update cell-specificparameters associated with another cell, and then it has to go throughthe necessary steps for BM in order to switch to a beam associated withanother cell. This two-step beam switching involving the traditionalhandover leads to large delay, which is an issue, especially for highmobility scenarios. Two solutions to overcome this issue are hereinafterproposed.

In the rest of the disclosure, the term “beam”, can be associated aspatial transmission of a resource signal (RS) from a “port”, “antennaport”, or “virtual antenna/port”. Also, the term “cell” can refer to aserving cell (that is, e.g., associated with a serving cell ID and/or aphysical cell ID) or a non-serving cell (that is, e.g., associated witha physical cell ID). Also, with a little abuse of terminology, the terms“reference RS” and “resource RS” are used integrally, but theycorrespond to a functionally equivalent entity.

A first solution is based on including cell-specific parameters in theBM procedures so that when the UE needs to switch beams across multipleneighboring (or non-serving) cells, it can do so without going throughthe traditional handover procedures. Note that the traditional handovermay happen eventually, but until it happens, the BM procedures allow aUE to stay connected with the network via alternative beams (potentiallytransmitted from neighboring cell(s)). An example embodiment is providednext.

In one embodiment (1), the NR BM is extended to include additionalcomponents/entities which facilitate a UE to stay connected with thenetwork (NW) in scenarios such high mobility by providing alternativebeam(s) transmitted from different entities (such as cells). Inparticular, the extended BM procedure includes the following threeessential steps: (S1) beam measurement, (S2) beam reporting, and (S3)beam indication.

For beam measurement (S1), a set of K reference RSs can be configuredfor measurement via higher-layer (such as RRC) signaling to a UE. The Kreference RSs can be NZP CSI-RS, SSB, DL DMRS, or any combination ofthose. For example, this set can be composed of NZP CSI-RS and SSB. Orit can be composed of NZP CSI-RS only. Or it can be composed of SSBonly. Each reference RS can be associated with (a) a resource ID of theparticular type of RS and (b) an entity ID of the particular type ofradio resource (RR) entity, where the reference RS belongs to (ortransmitted from) the corresponding RR entity.

In one example, a reference RS can be associated with a TX beam orspatial domain filter, which NW/gNB uses to beamform/precode thereference RS before its transmission. The choice of the TX beam orspatial domain filter is up to the NW/gNB, and hence transparent(unknown) to the UE.

In one example, the RR entity is a “cell”, the entity ID is a cell-ID,and the reference RS belongs to (or transmitted from) a cell out of aplurality of cells, each with a cell-ID. In another example, the RRentity is a transmit-receive point (TRP), the entity ID is a TRP-ID, andthe reference RS belongs to (or transmitted from) a TRP out of aplurality of TRPs, each with a TRP-ID. In another example, the RR entityis a panel, the entity ID is a panel-ID, and the reference RS belongs to(or transmitted from) a panel out of a plurality of panels, each with apanel-ID. In another example, the RR entity is a resource set, theentity ID is a resource-set-ID, and the reference RS belongs to (ortransmitted from) a resource set out of a plurality of resource sets,each with a resource-set-ID. In another example, the RR entity is aport, the entity ID is a port-ID, and the reference RS belongs to (ortransmitted from) a port out of a plurality of ports, each with aport-ID.

FIG. 13 illustrates the association of K RSs and their resource-IDs andentity-IDs 1300. The embodiment of the association of K RSs and theirresource-IDs and entity-IDs 1300 illustrated in FIG. 13 is forillustration only. FIG. 13 does not limit the scope of this disclosureto any particular implementation of the association of K RSs and theirresource-IDs and entity-IDs 1300.

Two examples (for resource-ID, entity-ID) are also shown in FIG. 13 . Inone example, resource-ID and entity-ID are separate, i.e., RS 0 isassociated with (resource-ID, entity-ID) = (i₀, j₀), RS 1 is associatedwith (resource-ID, entity-ID) = (i₁, j₁), and RS K-1 is associated with(resource-ID, entity-ID) = (i_(K-1), j_(K-1)), where i₀, i₁, ...,i_(K-1)are resource-IDs of the K reference RSs, and j₀, j₁, ...,j_(K-1) arecorresponding entity-IDs. In another example, resource-ID and entity-IDare joint, i.e., RS 0 is associated with (resource-ID, entity-ID)indexed by m₀, RS 1 is associated with (resource-ID, entity-ID) indexedby m₁, and RS K-1 is associated with (resource-ID, entity-ID) indexed bym_(K-1), where m₀, m₁, ...,m_(K-1) are joint indices of (resource-ID,entity-ID)s associated with the K reference RSs.

The above-mentioned entities are only examples. The embodiments of thisdisclosure are general and applicable to any other examples of theentity (including the ones mentioned above) or BM component(s) that arefunctionally equivalent.

An example of RS configuration is given in Table 1 where the referenceRS set includes NZP CSI-RS and SRS, and K=8. This example is for thecase when Resource ID and Entity ID are separate.

TABLE 1 Example of reference RS set, K = 8 Reference RS index ReferenceRS Type Resource ID for the type Entity ID 0 NZP CSI-RS 0 1 1 NZP CSI-RS3 1 2 NZP CSI-RS 4 2 3 NZP CSI-RS 6 3 4 NZP CSI-RS 1 4 5 NZP CSI-RS 2 46 SSB 1 1 7 SSB 3 3

Another example of RS configuration is given in Table 2 where thereference RS set includes NZP CSI-RS and SRS, and K=8. This example isfor the case when Resource ID and Entity ID are joint.

TABLE 2 Example of reference RS set, K = 8 Reference RS index ReferenceRS Type Joint ID for Reference-ID and Entity-ID 0 NZP CSI-RS 1 1 NZPCSI-RS 3 2 NZP CSI-RS 4 3 NZP CSI-RS 6 4 NZP CSI-RS 7 5 NZP CSI-RS 9 6SSB 0 7 SSB 2

Joint ID Resource ID for the type Entity ID 0 0 1 1 3 1 2 4 2 3 6 3 4 14 5 2 4 6 1 1 7 3 3

For beam reporting (S2), the UE is configured to use a subset or all ofthe configured K reference RSs to determine N beam reports, where 1 ≤ N≤ K, where each beam report comprises a beam metric or/and a resourceindicator. In one example, the beam metric is a L1-RSRP which indicatespower level of a reference RS. In another example, the beam metric is aL1-SINR which indicates a ratio of signal power and (noise plus)interference power, where the signal power is determined using areference RS and the interference power is determined using a ZP CSI-RSresource or/and NZP CSI-RS resource configured to the UE forinterference measurement. Regarding the resource indicator, at least oneof the following alternatives can be used.

In one alternative Alt S2-0: When the resource ID and the entity ID(e.g., cell-ID) associated with reference RS are separate (cf. FIG. 9 ),a single resource indicator indicates two separate indices one each forthe resource ID and the entity ID (e.g., cell-ID) associated withreference RS.

-   In one example, when the reference RS is NZP CSI-RS, the single    resource indicator can be CRI, which indicates two separate indices    one each for the resource ID and the entity ID (e.g., cell-ID)    associated with the NZP CSI-RS resource.-   In one example, when the reference RS is SSB, the single resource    indicator can be SSBRI, which indicates two separate indices one    each for the resource ID and the entity ID (e.g., cell-ID)    associated with the SSB resource.

In one alternative Alt S2-1: When the resource ID and the entity ID(e.g., cell-ID) associated with reference RS are separate (cf. FIG. 9 ),then the resource indicator can include two components (X,Y), whereincomponents X and Y indicate the resource ID and the entity ID (e.g.,cell-ID) associated with reference RS, respectively.

-   In one example, when the reference RS is NZP CSI-RS, the component X    can be a CSI-RS resource indicator (CRI), which indicates a resource    ID of the NZP CSI-RS resource.-   In another example, when the reference RS is SSB, the component can    be SSB resource indicator (SSBRI), which indicates a resource ID of    SSB resource.

In one alternative Alt S2-2: When the resource ID and the entity ID(e.g., cell-ID) associated with reference RS are joint (cf. FIG. 9 ),then a single resource indicator indicates both the resource ID and theentity ID (e.g., cell-ID) associated with reference RS jointly.

-   In one example, when the reference RS is NZP CSI-RS, the single    resource indicator can be CRI, which indicates a joint index for the    resource ID and the entity ID (e.g., cell-ID) associated with the    NZP CSI-RS resource.-   In one example, when the reference RS is SSB, the single resource    indicator can be SSBRI, which indicates a joint index for the    resource ID and the entity ID (e.g., cell-ID) associated with the    SSB resource.

In one alternative Alt S2-3: the resource indicator indicates onlyentity ID (e.g., cell-ID) associated with a reference RS.

For beam indication (S3), the NR TCI-based mechanism can be reused. TheTCI-based mechanism links/associates at least one of the K reference RSsto a particular TCI state for a channel (or another/target RS). Forinstance, the reference RS 0 can be associated with the first TCI statefor PDSCH and the reference RS 1 with the second TCI state for PDSCH(wherein at least two TCI states are configured for PDSCH). Suchassociation can take form of the QCL TypeD, which represents a spatialrelation or spatial domain filter (or beam or precoder). For DL, tworelevant channels include PDSCH and PDCCH (and examples ofanother/target RS include DMRS, CSI-RS, SSB).

Similar to NR, a set of TCI states can be configured via higher-layer(RRC) signaling. Optionally, a set of TCI states can be configured viaMAC CE. Optionally, a subset of the TCI states can be activated orselected either via MAC CE or L1 control signaling (via either UE-groupDCI where a set of UEs share a same TCI state subset, orUE-specific/dedicated DCI). This subset constitutes the TCI statesrepresented by the code points of the TCI field in the correspondingDCI. This update/activation can be performed in either one shot orincrementally. The TCI state indicated by the code point of the TCIfield is a reference to the TX beam or the TX spatial filter associatedwith a reference RS. For DL, given such a reference, the UE can furtherderive the RX beam or RX spatial filter. The DCI that includes the TCIfield (which can be either DL-related DCI or UL-related DCI) performsthe function of the so-called “beam indication”.

FIG. 14 illustrates examples of TCI states 1400. The embodiment of theexample TCI states 1400 illustrated in FIG. 14 is for illustration only.FIG. 14 does not limit the scope of this disclosure to any particularimplementation of the example TCI states 1400.

In one example (Ex S3-1), a TCI state includes a TCI state ID and aQCL-Info parameter, wherein the QCL-Info parameter includes the resourceID and the entity ID (e.g., cell ID) of a reference RS (from K referenceRSs), and a QCL-Type, e.g., QCL TypeD.

In another example (Ex S3-2), a TCI state includes a TCI state ID and aQCL-Info parameter, wherein the QCL-Info includes the resource ID andthe entity ID (e.g., cell ID) of T1 > 1 reference RSs (from K referenceRSs), and a QCL-Type, e.g., QCL TypeD. In one example, T1 = 2.

In another example (Ex S3-3), a TCI state includes a TCI state ID andT2 > 1 QCL-Info parameters, wherein each QCL-Info parameter includes theresource ID and the entity ID (e.g., cell ID) of a reference RS (from Kreference RSs), and a QCL-Type, e.g., QCL TypeD. In one example, T2 = 2.

In another example (Ex S3-4), a TCI state includes a TCI state ID andT₂ > 1 QCL-Info parameters, wherein each QCL-Info parameter includes theresource ID and the entity ID (e.g., cell ID) of T₁ > 1 reference RSs(from K reference RSs), and a QCL-Type, e.g., QCL TypeD.

In one sub-embodiment (1.1), for beam measurement (S1), the UE isconfigured (via higher layer RRC signaling) with K reference RSs thatare SSBs associated with (transmitted from) multiple cells/entities(comprising the serving or/and neighboring cells/entities, where aneighboring cell is equivalent to a non-serving cell). In one example,the configuration includes both location (in frequency domain) andcell-ID/entity-ID associated with each SSB. This configuration can bevia RRC signaling including a bitmap indicating cell-IDs//entity-IDs. Inanother example, the configuration includes only locations (notcell-IDs/entity-IDs) of SSBs, and the UE has to detect (search for)their cell-IDs/entity-IDs. In another example, the configurationincludes the frequency band, and the UE has to detect (search for) bothlocations and cell-IDs/entity-IDs of SSBs.

In one example, the NR RRC parameter MeasObjectNR [REF12] can be reusedfor the configuration. For instance, the parameter ssbFrequency inMeasObjectNR can be used to configure locations of SSBs, and theparameter ssb-ToMeasure in MeasObjectNR can be used to configure thecell-IDs/entity-IDs of SSBs. In another example, one or multiple newparameters (e.g., in MeasObjectNR) is introduced for this configuration.

For beam reporting (S2), the UE is configured to report N beam report(s)according to step (S2) of embodiment 1 (explained above) wherein eachbeam report includes a beam metric or/and a resource indicator. The beammetric is either L1-RSRP or L1-SINR. The resource indicator includes aresource-ID or/and a cell-ID/entity-ID associated with a SSB, whereinthe resource indicator is according to at least one of Alt S2-1 throughAlt S2-4.

For beam indication (S3), the TCI-based mechanism as explained inembodiment 1 is used.

In one sub-embodiment (1.2), for beam measurement (S1), the UE isconfigured (via higher layer RRC signaling) with K reference RSs thatare (NZP) CSI-RSs associated with (transmitted from) multiplecells/entities (comprising the serving or/and neighboringcells/entities, where a neighboring cell is equivalent to a non-servingcell). In one example, the configuration includes both location (intime-frequency domain) and cell-ID/entity-ID associated with eachCSI-RS. This configuration can be via RRC signaling including a bitmapindicating cell-IDs/entity-IDs. In one example, the NR RRC parameterCSI-RS-ResourceConfigMobility [REF12] can be reused for theconfiguration.

For beam reporting (S2), the UE is configured to report N beam report(s)according to step (S2) of embodiment 1 (explained above) wherein eachbeam report includes a beam metric or/and a resource indicator. The beammetric is either L1-RSRP or L1-SINR. The resource indicator includes aresource-ID or/and a cell-ID/entity-ID associated with a CSI-RS, whereinthe resource indicator is according to at least one of Alt S2-1 throughAlt S2-4.

For beam indication (S3), the TCI-based mechanism as explained inembodiment 1 is used.

In one sub-embodiment (1.3), for beam measurement (S1), the UE isconfigured (via higher layer RRC signaling) with K reference RSs thatare a combination of SSBs and (NZP) CSI-RSs associated with (transmittedfrom) multiple cells/entities (comprising the serving or/and neighboringcells/entities, where a neighboring cell is equivalent to a non-servingcell). In one example, for SSBs, the configuration includes bothlocation (in frequency domain) and cell-ID/entity-ID associated witheach SSB. This configuration can be via RRC signaling including a bitmapindicating cell-IDs/entity-IDs. In another example, for SSBs, theconfiguration includes only locations (not cell-IDs/entity-IDs) of SSBs,and the UE has to detect (search for) their cell-IDs/entity-IDs. Inanother example, for SSBs, the configuration includes the frequencyband, and the UE has to detect (search for) both locations andcell-IDs/entity-IDs of SSBs. In one example, for CSR-RSs, theconfiguration includes both location (in time-frequency domain) andcell-ID/entity-ID associated with each CSI-RS.

In one example, for SSBs, the NR RRC parameter MeasObjectNR [REF12] canbe reused for the configuration. For instance, the parameterssbFrequency in MeasObjectNR can be used to configure locations of SSBs,and the parameter ssb-ToMeasure in MeasObjectNR can be used to configurethe cell-IDs/entity-IDs of SSBs. In another example, for SSBs, one ormultiple new parameters (e.g., in MeasObjectNR) is introduced for thisconfiguration. In one example, for CSI-RSs, the NR RRC parameterCSI-RS-ResourceConfigMobility [REF12] can be reused for theconfiguration.

For beam reporting (S2), the UE is configured to report N beam report(s)according to step (S2) of embodiment 1 (explained above) wherein eachbeam report includes a beam metric or/and a resource indicator. The beammetric is either L1-RSRP or L1-SINR. The resource indicator includes aresource-ID or/and a cell-ID/entity-ID associated with a SSB or aCSI-RS, wherein the resource indicator is according to at least one ofAlt S2-1 through Alt S2-4.

For beam indication (S3), the TCI-based mechanism as explained inembodiment 1 is used.

In one sub-embodiment (1.4), the cell-ID in embodiment 1, andsub-embodiments 1.1 through 1.3 can be according to at least one of thefollowing examples.

In one example 1.4.1, the cell ID is a Serving cell ID (SCI orServCellIndex) that is used to identify a serving cell (i.e. the PCell,the PSCell or an SCell or an SSCell). In one example, Value 0 appliesfor the PCell, while the SCellIndex that has previously been assignedapplies for SCells. Here, PCell is a primary cell, which is one of thecells belonging to master cell group (MCG) configured to the UE; SCellis a secondary cell, which is one or more of the cells belonging to theMCG configured to the UE; PSCell is a primary SCell, which is one of thecells belonging to the secondary cell group (SCG) configured to the UE;and SSCell is a secondary Scell, which is one or more of the cellsbelonging to the SCG configured to the UE.

-   In one example, a serving cell ID in the above-mentioned beam    management procedures can take any value from {0,1, ...,    maxNrofServingCells-1}. In one example, maxNrofServingCells = 32 or    31.-   In another example, a serving cell ID in the above-mentioned beam    management procedures can take any value from a subset S of the set    of allowed values T. For example, when T = {0,1, ...,    maxNrofServingCells-1}, S is subset of T. In one example, this    subset T is fixed. In another example, this subset T is configured    to the UE, e.g. via higher layer RRC signaling. For example, a list    of ServCellIndex values can be configured, e.g. via RRC parameter    sci-List or sci-List-BeamManagement.

An example of QCL-Info for beam (or TCI state) indication is shown inExample I in Table 3. Example 1.4.1 can be restricted to qcl-Type =typeD. Alternatively, it can be any applicable to other qcl-Types from{typeA, typeB, typeC, typeD}.

In one example 1.4.2, the cell ID is a Physical cell ID (PCI orPhysCellId) that is used to identify a physical cell index. In oneexample, the physical cell index refers to (or indicates) either theserving cell or a non-serving cell (neighboring cell).

-   In one example, PCI in the above-mentioned beam management    procedures can take any value from the set of allowed values, e.g.    {0,1, ...,1007}.-   In another example, PCI in the above-mentioned beam management    procedures can take any value from a subset S of the set of allowed    values T. For example, when T = {0,1, .., 1007}, S is subset of T.    In one example, this subset T is fixed. In another example, this    subset T is configured to the UE, e.g. via higher layer RRC    signaling. For example, a list of PCI values can be configured, e.g.    via RRC parameter pci-List or pci-List-BeamManagement.

An example of QCL-Info for beam (or TCI state) indication is shown inExample II in Table 3. Example 1.4.2 can be restricted to qcl-Type =typeD. Alternatively, it can be any applicable to other qcl-Types from{typeA, typeB, typeC, typeD}.

In one example 1.4.3, the cell ID is a pair of a serving cell ID (SCI)and physical cell ID (PCI) that is used to identify a serving cell indexand a physical cell index of a cell, respectively, where the cell caneither be a serving cell or a non-serving cell (neighboring cell). Inone example, one joint ID is for both (PCI, SCI). In another example,two separate IDs are used, one for PCI and another for SCI. The detailsabout PCI and SCI are according to example 1.4.1 and 1.4.2.

An example of QCL-Info for beam (or TCI state) indication is shown inExample III, Example IV, and Example V in Table 3. Example 1.4.3 can berestricted to qcl-Type = typeD. Alternatively, it can be any applicableto other qcl-Types from {typeA, typeB, typeC, typeD}. In Example III,there are two separate IDs, Cell-ID1 for ServCellIndex and Cell-ID2 forPhysCellId. In Example IV, there are one joint ID, namely Cell-ID =(PCI, SCI), where SCI is for ServCellIndex and PCI is for Cell-ID2 forPhysCellId. In Example V, there is one ID, namely Cell forServCellIndex, and another ID, namely ID1 or ID2

-   ID1 = (NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceId, PCI), where NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceId is    for NZP-CSIRS resource and PCI is for PhysCellId,-   ID2 = (SSB-Index, PCI), where SSB-Index is for SSB and PCI is for    PhysCellId.

TABLE 3 Example I QCL-Info ::=       SEQUENCE {   Cell               ServCellIndex                         OPTIONAL,   --Need R   bwp-Id                  BWP-Id                            OPTIONAL , --Cond CSI-RS-Indicated     referenceSignal   CHOICE {       csi-rs   NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceId,        ssb   SSB-Index     },    qcl-Type     ENUMERATED {typeA, typeB, typeC, typeD},     ... }Example II QCL-Info ::=     SEQUENCE {    Cell           PhysCellId                              OPTIONAL,   --Need R    bwp-Id              BWP-Id                              OPTIONAL, -- CondCSI-RS-Indicated     referenceSignal     CHOICE {       csi-rs               NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceId,       ssb                SSB-Index    },   qcl-Type     ENUMERATED {typeA, typeB, typeC, typeD},    ... }Example III QCL-Info ::=     SEQUENCE {    Cell-ID1       ServCellIndex                           OPTIONAL,   -- NeedR    Cell-ID2       PhysCellId                              OPTIONAL,   -- NeedR    bwp-Id                BWP-Id                            OPTIONAL, --Cond CSI-RS-Indicated     referenceSignal     CHOICE {       csi-rs     NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceId,        ssb      SSB-Index    },   qcl-Type     ENUMERATED {typeA, typeB, typeC, typeD},    ... }Example IV QCL-Info ::=     SEQUENCE {    Cell-ID         (PCI, SCI)                            OPTIONAL,   -- NeedR    bwp-Id            BWP-Id                       OPTIONAL, -- Cond CSI-RS-Indicated    referenceSignal     CHOICE {    csi-rs     NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceId,     ssb    SSB-Index    },   qcl-Type     ENUMERATED {typeA, typeB, typeC, typeD},    ... } WherePCI = PhysCellId and SCI = ServCellIndex are physical and serving cellindices of the cell Example V QCL-Info ::=     SEQUENCE {    Cell            ServCellIndex                         OPTIONAL,   -- Need R    bwp-Id           BWP-Id                     OPTIONAL, -- Cond CSI-RS-Indicated    referenceSignal     CHOICE {       csi-rs             ID1,      ssb               ID2    },   qcl-Type          ENUMERATED {typeA, typeB, typeC, typeD},    ... }Where ID1 = (NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceId, PhysCellId)ID2 = (SSB-Index, PhysCellId)

In one sub-embodiment (1.5), the cell-ID in embodiment 1, andsub-embodiments 1.1 through 1.3 can be according to at least one of theexample 1.4.1 through 1.4.3 except that a SRS resource can also beincluded as a reference RS. The corresponding examples of QCL-Info isshown in Table 4.

TABLE 4 Example VI QCL-Info ::=     SEQUENCE {    Cell             ServCellIndex                           OPTIONAL,   -- NeedR    bwp-Id          BWP-Id                         OPTIONAL, -- 0ond CSI-RS-Indicated     referenceSignal     CHOICE {       csi-rs                NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceId,       ssb                 SSB-Index     srs                    SEQUENCE {            resourceId                       SRS-ResourceId,            uplinkBWP                        BWP-Id      }    },   qcl-Type          ENUMERATED {typeA, typeB, typeC, typeD},    ... }Example VII QCL-Info ::=     SEQUENCE {   Cell                PhysCellId                       OPTIONAL,   -- Need R   bwp-Id             BWP-Id               OPTIONAL, -- Cond CSI-RS-Indicated    referenceSignal       CHOICE {    csi-rs                   NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceId,    ssb                    SSB-Index   srs                     SEQUENCE {              resourceId                     SRS-ResourceId,              uplinkBWP                      BWP-Id            }    },   qcl-Type     ENUMERATED {typeA, typeB, typeC, typeD},    ... }Example VIII QCL-Info ::=     SEQUENCE {   Cell-ID1           ServCellIndex                        OPTIONAL,   -- Need R   Cell-ID2           PhysCellId                           OPTIONAL,   -- NeedR   bwp-Id                BWP-Id                     OPTIONAL, -- Cond CSI-RS-Indicated    referenceSignal     CHOICE {      csi-rs                NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceId,      ssb                  SSB-Index     srs                   SEQUENCE {                resourceId                  SRS-ResourceId,                uplinkBWP                   BWP-Id              }    },   qcl-Type               ENUMERATED {typeA, typeB, typeC, typeD},   ... } Example IX QCL-Info ::=       SEQUENCE {    Cell-ID             (PCI, SCI)                          OPTIONAL,   -- NeedR    bwp-Id     BWP-Id                          OPTIONAL, -- Cond CSI-RS-Indicated     referenceSignal     CHOICE {       csi-rs               NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceId,       ssb                SSB-Index      srs                  SEQUENCE {              resourceId                    SRS-ResourceId,              uplinkBWP                     BWP-Id            }    },   qcl-Type             ENUMERATED {typeA, typeB, typeC, typeD},    ...} WherePCI = PhysCellId and SCI = ServCellIndex are physical and serving cell indices of the cell Example X QCL-Info ::=         SEQUENCE {    Cell                   ServCellIndex                        OPTIONAL,   --Need R    bwp-Id                 BWP-Id                  OPTIONAL, -- Cond CSI-RS-Indicated     referenceSignal     CHOICE {       csi-rs             ID1,        ssb               ID2     srs                 SEQUENCE {             resourceId                     ID3,             uplinkBWP                      BWP-Id           }    },   qcl-Type            ENUMERATED {typeA, typeB, typeC, typeD},    ... }Where ID1 = (NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceId, PhysCellId)ID2 = (SSB-Index, PhysCellId) ID3 = (SRS-ResourceId, PhysCellId)

In one sub-embodiment (1.6), for UL beam (TCI state orspatialRelationInfo) indication, the cell-ID in embodiment 1, andsub-embodiments 1.1 through 1.3 can be according to at least one of theexamples 1.4.1 through 1.4.3. The corresponding examples of QCL-Info isshown in Table 5.

TABLE 5 Example XI SRS-SpatialRelationInfo ::=        SEQUENCE {   servingCellId                      ServCellIndex     OPTIONAL, -- NeedS    referenceSignal                    CHOICE {      ssb-Index                          SSB-Index,      csi-RS-Index                        NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceId,    srs                                 SEQUENCE {          resourceId                           SRS-ResourceId,          uplinkBWP                            BWP-Id       }    } }Example XII SRS-SpatialRelationInfo ::=         SEQUENCE {   CellId                               PhysCellId               OPTIONAL, --Need S     referenceSignal                       CHOICE {       ssb-Index                        SSB-Index,       csi-RS-Index                      NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceId,       srs                             SEQUENCE {          resourceId                          SRS-ResourceId,          uplinkBWP                           BWP-Id        }      } }Example XIII SRS-SpatialRelationInfo ::=     SEQUENCE {    Cell-ID1                      ServCellIndex              OPTIONAL, -- Need S    Cell-ID2                      PhysCellId                 OPTIONAL, -- Need S    referenceSignal                 CHOICE {       ssb-Index                       SSB-Index,       csi-RS-Index                     NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceId,       srs                            SEQUENCE {           resourceId                       SRS-ResourceId,           uplinkBWP                        BWP-Id         }       } }Example XIV SRS-SpatialRelationInfo ::=        SEQUENCE {    Cell-ID                          (PCI, SCI)             OPTIONAL, -- Need S    referenceSignal                    CHOICE {       ssb-Index                          SSB-Index,       csi-RS-Index                        NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceId,        srs                              SEQUENCE {            resourceId                           SRS-ResourceId,            uplinkBWP                            BWP-Id          }      } } WherePCI = PhysCellId and SCI = ServCellIndex are physical and serving cell indices of the cell Example XVSRS-SpatialRelationInfo ::=      SEQUENCE {    servingCellId                   ServCellIndex     OPTIONAL, -- Need S     referenceSignal                 CHOICE {       csi-rs                            ID1,       ssb                             ID2      srs                               SEQUENCE {                 resourceId              ID3,                 uplinkBWP               BWP-Id                }    },   qcl-Type                            ENUMERATED {typeA, typeB, typeC, typeD},    ... } Where ID1 = (NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceId, PhysCellId)ID2 = (SSB-Index, PhysCellId) ID3 = (SRS-ResourceId, PhysCellId)

In some embodiments of this disclosure, the term serving cell is definedas follows, which is described in TS 38.331 [REF12].

-   Serving Cell: For a UE in RRC_CONNECTED not configured with CA/DC    there is only one serving cell comprising of the primary cell. For a    UE in RRC_CONNECTED configured with CA/ DC the term ‘serving cells’    is used to denote the set of cells comprising of the Special Cell(s)    and all secondary cells.-   Primary Cell (PCell): The MCG cell, operating on the primary    frequency, in which the UE either performs the initial connection    establishment procedure or initiates the connection re-establishment    procedure.-   Special Cell: For Dual Connectivity operation the term Special Cell    refers to the PCell of the MCG or the PSCell of the SCG, otherwise    the term Special Cell refers to the PCell.-   Secondary Cell: For a UE configured with carrier aggregation (CA), a    cell providing additional radio resources on top of Special Cell.-   Secondary Cell Group (SCG): For a UE configured with dual    connectivity (DC), the subset of serving cells comprising of the    PSCell and zero or more secondary cells.

In some embodiments of this disclosure, the term non-serving cell isdefined as a cell that is not a serving cell. For example, it can be aneighboring cell.

In some embodiments of this disclosure, a reference RS associated with aserving cell can also be referred to as a serving cell RS. A referenceRS associated with a non-serving cell can also be referred to as anon-serving cell RS. Alternatively, a non-serving cell RS is a referenceRS that is an SSB or has an SSB of a non-serving cell as direct orindirect QCL source. Alternatively, a non-serving cell RS is a referenceRS that is an CSI-RS or has an CSI-RS of a non-serving cell as direct orindirect QCL source. Alternatively, a non-serving cell RS is a referenceRS that is an SSB or CSI-RS, or has an SSB or CSI-RS of a non-servingcell as direct or indirect QCL source.

In some embodiments of this disclosure, there is no RRC reconfigurationsignaling needed during and after handover when a TCI associated withnon-serving cell RS is indicated. This implies that there is no C-RNTIupdate during inter-cell mobility during and after handover.

In some embodiments of this disclosure, the beam measurement andreporting of non-serving cell RSs is facilitated via incorporatingnon-serving cell information (such as PCID or non-serving cell ID) withat least some TCI state(s).

-   In one example, some TCI state(s) is included in (hence is a subset    of) a common pool (set) of TCI states configured to the UE. The    common pool can include both serving cell RSs and non-serving cell    RSs.-   In one example, some TCI state(s) is configured separately to the    UE. That is, there are two separate pools (sets) of TCI states    configured to the UE, one for the serving cell RSs and another for    the non-serving cell RSs.

In one example, the metric for the beam measurement and reporting iseither (layer 1 RSRP) L1-RSRP or (layer 3 RSRP) L3-RSRP ortime-domain-filtered L1-RSRP or spatial-domain-filtered L1-RSRP.

In some embodiments of this disclosure, the beam indication (TCI stateupdate) including a non-serving cell RS is facilitated via incorporatingnon-serving cell information (such as PCID or non-serving cell ID) intothe TCI state definition.

In some embodiments of this disclosure, the configurations fornon-serving cell RSs (such as SSBs, CSI-RSs) are provided by the servingcell via RRC. The configurations include information such astime/frequency location, transmission power, etc. Also, suchconfigurations can be provided either separately via dedicated RRCconfiguration parameters or jointly/together with the configurations forserving cell RSs.

In some embodiments of this disclosure, the serving cell is a BS whichthe UE is connected to (e.g., has established RRC connection). Likewise,a non-serving cell is a BS which the UE is not connected to (e.g., hasno established RRC connection).

A second solution is based on expanding the so-called entity boundariesfor BM procedures by introducing a “super” entity, which encompassesmultiple entities (cf. entities defined in embodiment 1). When the UEneeds to switch beams across multiple neighboring entities (e.g.,non-serving cells), it can do so by switching beams associated with thesuper entity without going through the traditional handover procedures.Note that the traditional handover may happen eventually, but until ithappens, the BM procedures allow a UE to stay connected with the networkvia alternative beams. An example embodiment is provided below.

In one embodiment (2), the NR BM is extended to include a “super” entitywhich facilitates a UE to stay connected with the network (NW) inscenarios such high mobility by providing alternative beam(s) associatedwith or transmitted from different entities comprising the super entity.In one example, there is no entity-ID associated with the super entity.In another example, there is an entity-ID associated with the superentity, but it is common for entities that the super entity encompasses.Regardless of whether there exists an entity-ID or not, there is no needto include the entity-ID for the super-entity in the BM procedures. Notethat entities comprising the super-entity may have entity-IDs, but theyare not used/included in the BM procedures according to this embodiment.The extended BM procedure includes the following three essential steps:(S1) beam measurement, (S2) beam reporting, and (S3) beam indication.

For beam measurement (S1), a set of K reference RSs can be configuredfor measurement via higher-layer (such as RRC) signaling to a UE. The Kreference RSs can be NZP CSI-RS, SSB, DL DMRS, or any combination ofthose. For example, this set can be composed of NZP CSI-RS and SSB. Orit can be composed of NZP CSI-RS only. Or it can be composed of SSBonly. The set of K reference RSs are associated with (or transmitted)from entities comprising the super entity. Each reference RS can beassociated with (a) a resource ID of the particular type of RS and (b)optionally, an entity ID of the particular type of radio resource (RR)entity.

In one example, a reference RS can be associated with a TX beam orspatial domain filter, which NW/gNB uses to beamform/precode thereference RS before its transmission. The choice of the TX beam orspatial domain filter is up to the NW/gNB, and hence transparent(unknown) to the UE.

In one example, the RR entity is a “cell”, the super entity encompassingmultiple entities is a “super-cell”, and each reference RS belongs to(or transmitted from) a cell out of a plurality of cells encompassingthe super-cell. In another example, the RR entity is a transmit-receivepoint (TRP), the super entity encompassing multiple entities is a“super-TRP”, and each reference RS belongs to (or transmitted from) aTRP out of a plurality of TRPs encompassing the super-TRP. In anotherexample, the RR entity is a panel, the super entity encompassingmultiple entities is a “super-panel”, and each reference RS belongs to(or transmitted from) a panel out of a plurality of panels encompassingthe super-panel. In another example, the RR entity is a resource set,the super entity encompassing multiple entities is a “super-resource-set”, and each reference RS belongs to (or transmitted from) aTR resource set out of a plurality of resource sets encompassing thesuper- resource-set. In another example, the RR entity is a port, thesuper entity encompassing multiple ports is a “super-port”, and eachreference RS belongs to (or transmitted from) a port out of a pluralityof ports encompassing the super-port.

The above-mentioned entities are only examples. The embodiments of thisdisclosure are general and applicable to any other examples of theentity (including the ones mentioned above) or BM component(s) that arefunctionally equivalent.

For beam reporting (S2), the UE is configured to use a subset or all ofthe configured K reference RSs to determine N beam reports, where 1 ≤ N≤ K, where each beam report comprises a beam metric or/and a resourceindicator. In one example, the beam metric is a L1-RSRP which indicatespower level of a reference RS. In another example, the beam metric is aL1-SINR which indicates a ratio of signal power and (noise plus)interference power, where the signal power is determined using areference RS and the interference power is determined using a ZP CSI-RSresource or/and NZP CSI-RS resource configured to the UE forinterference measurement. The resource indicator indicates a referenceRS. In one example, when the reference RS is NZP CSI-RS, the resourceindicator can be CRI, which indicates an NZP CSI-RS resource. In anotherexample, when the reference RS is SSB, the single resource indicator canbe SSBRI, which indicates a SSB resource.

For beam indication (S3), the TCI-based mechanism as explained inembodiment 1 is used.

A few sub-embodiments of this embodiment are as follows.

In one sub-embodiment (2.1), for beam measurement (S1), the UE isconfigured (via higher layer RRC signaling) with K reference RSs thatare SSBs associated with (transmitted from) multiple cells/entities(comprising the serving or/and neighboring cells/entities, where aneighboring cell is equivalent to a non-serving cell) comprising thesuper-entity/super-cell. In one example, the configuration includes bothlocation (in frequency domain) and entity-ID/cell-ID associated witheach SSB. This configuration can be via RRC signaling including a bitmapindicating entity-IDs/cell-IDs. In another example, the configurationincludes only locations (not entity-IDs/cell-IDs) of SSBs, and the UEhas to detect (search for) their entity-IDs/cell-IDs. In anotherexample, the configuration includes the frequency band, and the UE hasto detect (search for) both locations and /entity-IDs/cell-IDs of SSBs.

In one example, the NR RRC parameter MeasObjectNR [REF12] can be reusedfor the configuration. For instance, the parameter ssbFrequency inMeasObjectNR can be used to configure locations of SSBs, and theparameter ssb-ToMeasure in MeasObjectNR can be used to configure theentity-IDs/cell-IDs of SSBs. In another example, one or multiple newparameters (e.g., in MeasObjectNR) is introduced for this configuration.

For beam reporting (S2), the UE is configured to report N beam report(s)according to step (S2) of embodiment 2 (explained above). For beamindication (S3), the TCI-based mechanism as explained in embodiment 1 isused.

In one sub-embodiment (2.2), for beam measurement (S1), the UE isconfigured (via higher layer RRC signaling) with K reference RSs thatare (NZP) CSI-RSs associated with (transmitted from) multiplecells/entities (comprising the serving or/and neighboringcells/entities, where a neighboring cell is equivalent to a non-servingcell) comprising the super-entity/supercell. In one example, theconfiguration includes both location (in time-frequency domain) andentity-ID/cell-ID associated with each CSI-RS. This configuration can bevia RRC signaling including a bitmap indicating entity-IDs/cell-IDs. Inone example, the NR RRC parameter CSI-RS-ResourceConfigMobility [REF12]can be reused for the configuration.

For beam reporting (S2), the UE is configured to report N beam report(s)according to step (S2) of embodiment 2 (explained above). For beamindication (S3), the TCI-based mechanism as explained in embodiment 1 isused.

In one sub-embodiment (2.3), for beam measurement (S1), the UE isconfigured (via higher layer RRC signaling) with K reference RSs thatare a combination of SSBs and (NZP) CSI-RSs associated with (transmittedfrom) multiple cells/entities (comprising the serving or/and neighboringcells/entities, where a neighboring cell is equivalent to a non-servingcell) comprising the super-entity/super-cell. In one example, for SSBs,the configuration includes both location (in frequency domain) andentity-ID/cell-ID associated with each SSB. This configuration can bevia RRC signaling including a bitmap indicating entity-IDs/cell-IDs. Inanother example, for SSBs, the configuration includes only locations(not entity-IDs/cell-IDs) of SSBs, and the UE has to detect (search for)their entity-IDs/cell-IDs. In another example, for SSBs, theconfiguration includes the frequency band, and the UE has to detect(search for) both locations and entity-IDs/cell-IDs of SSBs. In oneexample, for CSR-RSs, the configuration includes both location (intime-frequency domain) and entity-ID/cell-ID associated with eachCSI-RS.

In one example, for SSBs, the NR RRC parameter MeasObjectNR [REF12] canbe reused for the configuration. For instance, the parameterssbFrequency in MeasObjectNR can be used to configure locations of SSBs,and the parameter ssb-ToMeasure in MeasObjectNR can be used to configurethe entity-IDs/cell-IDs of SSBs. In another example, for SSBs, one ormultiple new parameters (e.g., in MeasObjectNR) is introduced for thisconfiguration. In one example, for CSI-RSs, the NR RRC parameterCSI-RS-ResourceConfigMobility [REF12] can be reused for theconfiguration.

A few sub-embodiments regarding the configuration of the super-entity(cf. embodiment 2) are as follows.

In one sub-embodiment (2.A), the network (NW) includes X super-entities(X >_ 1) that are fixed in the NW (e.g., no mobility to super-entity). AUE connects to at least one of the X super-entities at any given time,undergoes the BM procedures to acquire at least one beam for DL channel(PDCCH or/and PDSCH). As the UE moves from one entity to another, itstays connected to the NW by switching/updating the at least beam withinthe super-entity it is connected to. The UE may eventually go throughthe traditional handover procedure to connect to another of the Xsuper-entities. According to this sub-embodiment, the super-entities arefixed (don’t move), and a UE moves from one super-entity to another(e.g., in case of high mobility UEs).

In one sub-embodiment (2.B), the network (NW) includes X super-entities(X >_ 1) and Y entities (Y >_ 1), both are fixed in the NW (e.g., nomobility to super-entity and entity). A UE connects to at least one ofthe X super-entities or/and Y entities at any given time, undergoes theBM procedures to acquire at least one beam for DL channel (PDCCH or/andPDSCH). As the UE moves from one entity or super-entity to another, itstays connected to the NW by switching/updating the at least beam withinthe super-entity or entity it is connected to. The UE may eventually gothrough the traditional handover procedure to connect to another of theX super-entities or/and the Y entities. According to thissub-embodiment, the super-entities and entities are fixed (don’t move),and a UE moves from one entity/super-entity to anotherentity/super-entity (e.g., in case of high mobility UEs), for example,entity 1 to super-entity 1 to entity 2.

In one sub-embodiment (2.C), the network (NW) includes X super-entities(X >_ 1) that are configured (e.g., mobility to super-entity) to a UE,i.e., the formation of X super-entities depends on the UE (e.g., UEmobility). This configuration can be via higher-layer (e.g., RRC) orMAC-CE or DCI or RRC + MAC CE or MAC CE + DCI based signaling. A UEconnects to at least one of the X super-entities at any given time,undergoes the BM procedures to acquire at least one beam for DL channel(PDCCH or/and PDSCH). As the UE moves from one entity to another, itstays connected to the NW by switching/updating the at least beam withinthe super-entity it is connected to. The UE may eventually go throughthe traditional handover procedure to connect to another of the Xsuper-entities (configured to the UE). For multiple UEs, theconfiguration of the X super-entities can be UE-specific. Alternatively,it can be UE-common (common for all UEs)) or UE-group-common (common fora group of UEs). When the configuration is via DCI, a UE-group DCI canbe used. According to this sub-embodiment, the super-entities are notfixed, they form and move as a UE moves from one super-entity to another(e.g., in case of high mobility UEs).

In one sub-embodiment (2.D), the network (NW) includes X super-entities(X >_ 1) and Y entities (Y >_ 1) that are configured, (e.g., mobility tosuper-entity and entity) to a UE, i.e., the formation of Xsuper-entities or/and Y entities depends on the UE (e.g., UE mobility).This configuration can be via higher-layer (e.g., RRC) or MAC-CE or DCIor RRC + MAC CE or MAC CE + DCI based signaling. A UE connects to atleast one of the X super-entities or/and Y entities at any given time,undergoes the BM procedures to acquire at least one beam for DL channel(PDCCH or/and PDSCH). As the UE moves from one entity or super-entity toanother, it stays connected to the NW by switching/updating the at leastbeam within the super-entity or entity it is connected to. The UE mayeventually go through the traditional handover procedure to connect toanother of the X super-entities or/and the Y entities (configured to theUE). For multiple UEs, the configuration of the X super-entities can beUE-specific. Alternatively, it can be UE-common (common for all UEs)) orUE-group-common (common for a group of UEs). When the configuration isvia DCI, a UE-group DCI can be used. According to this sub-embodiment,the super-entities and entities are not fixed, they form and move as aUE moves from one entity/super-entity to another entity/super-entity(e.g., in case of high mobility UEs), for example, entity 1 tosuper-entity 1 to entity 2.

FIG. 15 illustrates a flow chart of a method 1500 for operating a userequipment (UE), as may be performed by a UE such as UE 116, according toembodiments of the present disclosure. The embodiment of the method 1500illustrated in FIG. 15 is for illustration only. FIG. 15 does not limitthe scope of this disclosure to any particular implementation.

As illustrated in FIG. 15 , the method 1500 begins at step 1502. In step1502, the UE (e.g., 111-116 as illustrated in FIG. 1 ) receivesconfiguration information for measuring K resource reference signals(RSs) and reporting a beam report.

In step 1504, the UE measures the K resource RSs.

In step 1506, the UE determines the beam report based on a metric, wherethe beam report includes an indicator indicating at least one of the Kresource RSs.

In step 1508, the UE transmits the determined beam report.

The K resource RSs comprises a first subset and a second subset, atleast one resource RS in the first subset is transmitted from a servingcell in a set of serving cells and at least one resource RS in thesecond subset is transmitted from a non-serving cell in a set ofnon-serving cells, and 1 ≤ K.

In one embodiment, for each resource RS, the transceiver is furtherconfigured to receive an information about the cells comprising the setof serving and the set of non-serving cells.

In one embodiment, the information about the cells includes a physicalcell identifier (PCID).

In one embodiment, the transceiver is further configured to receive aplurality of quasi co-location (QCL) information, each QCL informationincluding (resource-ID, cell-ID, QCL-type) for at least one resource RS,where the resource-ID is an ID of the resource RS and the cell-ID is anID of the cell the resource RS is transmitted from, and QCL-type is atype of a QCL property associated with the resource RS.

In one embodiment, the QCL-type corresponds to TypeD for a spatialdomain filter.

In one embodiment, the transceiver is further configured to: receive aset of transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states, wherein eachTCI state refers to at least one QCL information from the plurality ofQCL information and is associated with a downlink (DL) transmission; andreceive a TCI state from the set of TCI states; and the processor isfurther configured to: decode the TCI state; and apply the TCI state toreceive the DL transmission.

In one embodiment, each QCL information includes an ID that indicatesboth resource-ID and cell-ID jointly.

In one embodiment, each QCL information includes an ID that indicatesthe resource-ID, and the cell-ID is determined implicitly based on theID.

FIG. 16 illustrates a flow chart of another method 1600, as may beperformed by a base station (BS) such as BS 102, according toembodiments of the present disclosure. The embodiment of the method 1600illustrated in FIG. 16 is for illustration only. FIG. 16 does not limitthe scope of this disclosure to any particular implementation.

As illustrated in FIG. 16 , the method 1600 begins at step 1602. In step1602, the BS (e.g., 101-103 as illustrated in FIG. 1 ), generatesconfiguration information for K resource reference signals (RSs) and abeam report.

In step 1604, the BS transmits the configuration information.

In step 1606, the BS receives the beam report, where the beam reportincludes an indicator indicating at least one of the K resource RSs.

The K resource RSs comprises a first subset and a second subset, atleast one resource RS in the first subset is transmitted from a servingcell in a set of serving cells and at least one resource RS in thesecond subset is transmitted from a non-serving cell in a set ofnon-serving cells, 1 ≤ K, and the BS is a serving cell in the set ofserving cells.

In one embodiment, for each resource RS, the transceiver is furtherconfigured to transmit an information about the cells comprising the setof serving and the set of non-serving cells.

In one embodiment, the information about the cells includes a physicalcell identifier (PCID).

In one embodiment, the transceiver is further configured to transmit aplurality of quasi co-location (QCL) information, each QCL informationincluding (resource-ID, cell-ID, QCL-type) for at least one resource RS,where the resource-ID is an ID of the resource RS and the cell-ID is anID of the cell the resource RS is transmitted from, and QCL-type is atype of a QCL property associated with the resource RS.

In one embodiment, the QCL-type corresponds to TypeD for a spatialdomain filter.

In one embodiment, the transceiver is further configured to: transmit aset of transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states, wherein eachTCI state refers to at least one QCL information from the plurality ofQCL information and is associated with a downlink (DL) transmission; andtransmit a TCI state from the set of TCI states.

In one embodiment, each QCL information includes an ID that indicatesboth resource-ID and cell-ID jointly.

In one embodiment, each QCL information includes an ID that indicatesthe resource-ID, and the cell-ID is determined implicitly based on theID.

Although the present disclosure has been described with an exemplaryembodiment, various changes and modifications may be suggested to oneskilled in the art. It is intended that the present disclosure encompasssuch changes and modifications as fall within the scope of the appendedclaims. None of the description in this application should be read asimplying that any particular element, step, or function is an essentialelement that must be included in the claims scope. The scope of patentedsubject matter is defined by the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A user equipment (UE) comprising: a transceiverconfigured to: receive a set of transmission configuration indicator(TCI) states, wherein each TCI state refers to at least one quasico-location (QCL) information and is associated with a downlink (DL)transmission, wherein the at least one QCL information indicates a[[()]resource-ID, a cell-ID, and a QCL-type for at least one resourceRS, wherein the resource-ID is an identifier (ID) of the resource RS,the cell-ID is an ID of a cell the resource RS is transmitted from, andthe QCL-type is a type of a QCL property associated with the resourceRS; and receive a TCI state from the set of TCI states; and a processorcoupled to the transceiver, the processor configured to: decode the TCIstate; and apply the TCI state to receive the DL transmission.